,transcriber's note3 ,the spelling      
inconsistencies of the original         
have been retained in this e-text4      
,,iranian ,,influence ,,on ,,moslem     
,,literature1 ,,part ,i    by    ,m4    
,,inostranzev    ,,translated ,,from    
,,the ,,russian1 ,,with ,,supplementary 
,,appendices ,,from  ,,arabic ,,sources 
,,by ,g4 ,k4 ,,nariman    #aiah         
,,general ,,contents4    ,,chapter   ,i4
 ,arabic ,writers as ,sources of        
,sasanian ,culture   #c    ,,chapter    
,,ii4 ,parsi ,clergy ,preserve          
,tradition                #be           
,,chapter ,,iii4 ,ethico-didactic ,books
 of ,arabs ,exclusively               of
 ,iranian ,origin                       
#ch    ,,chapter  ,,iv4 ,iranian        
,components of ,arabic ,adab ,literature
 #ec    ,,chapter   ,v4 ,pahlavi ,books 
,studied by ,arab ,authors          #fe 
,,chapter  ,,vi4 ,arab ,translators from
 ,pahlavi                  #gf          
,,chapter ,,vii4 ,pahlavi ,rushnar      
,nameh                          #hi     

,,appendices    7,by the ,translator74  
,,appendix   ,i4 ,independent           
,zoroastrian ,princes of ,tabaristan    
after ,arab ,conquest                   
#ic    ,,appendix  ,,ii4 ,iranian       
,material in ,mahasin wal ,masawi and   
,mahasin wal ,azdad                     
#aja    ,,appendix ,,iii4 ,burzoe's     
,introduction                           
#aje    ,,appendix  ,,iv4 ,the ,trial of
 ,afshin1                a ,disguised   
,zoroastrian ,general              #ace 
,,appendix   ,v4 ,noeldeke's            
,introduction to ,tabari            #adb
    ,,appendix  ,,vi4 ,letter of ,tansar
 to the ,king of ,tabaristan   #aei     
,,appendix ,,vii4 ,some ,arab ,authors  
and the ,iranian ,material              
they preserve3--                        
,the ,uyunal ,akhbar of ,ibn ,qotaiba   
#afc                        ,jahiz3     
,kitab-al-,bayan wal ,tabayyin   #afh   
,hamza ,ispahani                        
#aga                        ,tabari     
#agd                        ,dinawari   

#agg                        ,ibn al     
,athir                         #agi     
,masudi                                 
#ahb                        ,shahrastani
                          #ahg          
,ibn ,hazm                              
#aib                        ,ibn ,haukal
                           #aie         
,,appendix ,,viii4                      
,ibn ,khallikan                         
#aii                        ,mustawfi   
#bjc                        ,muqadasi   
#bjd                        ,thaalibi   
#bje          ,,preface    ,the facile  
notion is still prevalent even among    
,musalmans of learning  that the past of
 ,iran is beyond recall1 that the period
 of its history  preceding the          
extinction of the ,house of ,sasan      
cannot be adequately  investigated and  
that the still anterior dynasties which 
ruled vaster  areas have left no traces 
in stone or parchment in sufficient     
quantity  for a tolerable record        
reflecting the story of ,iran from the  

,iranian's  standpoint4 ,this fallacy is
 particularly hugged by the ,parsis     
among whom  it was originally lent by   
fanaticism to indolent ignorance4 ,it   
has been  credited with uncritical      
alacrity1 congenial to self-complacency1
 that  the ,arabs so utterly and        
ruthlessly annihilated the civilization 
of ,iran  in its mental and material    
aspects that no source whatever is left 
from  which to wring reliable           
information about ,zoroastrian ,iran4   
,the  following limited pages are       
devoted to a disproof of this age-long  
error4    ,for a connected story of     
,persia prior to the battle of          
,kadisiya1 beside  the ,byzantine       
writers there is abundant material in   
,armenian and ,chinese  histories4      
,these mines remain yet all but         
unexplored for the ,moslem and  ,parsi1 
although much has been done to extract  
from them a chronicle of  early         
,christianity4 ,the archaeology of      
,iran1 as ,i have shown elsewhere1  can 

provide vital clue to an authentic      
resuscitation of ,sasanian past4        
,pre-,moslem epigraphy of ,persia is yet
 in little more than an inchoate        
condition4 ,not only all ,central ,asia 
but the territories marching with  the  
,indian and ,persian frontiers1 where   
persecution of the elder faith  could   
not have been relatively mild1 the      
population professing ,islam  have been 
unable to abjure in their entirety rites
 and practices akin to  those of        
,zoroastrianism4 ,within living memory  
the inhabitants of ,pamir  would not    
blow out a candle or otherwise desecrate
 fire4 ,while science  cannot recognise 
the claims of any individual professing 
to have studied  esoteric               
,zoroastrianism hidden in the hill      
tracts of ,rawalpindi1 the  myth has a  
value in that it indicates the direction
 in which humbler and  uninspired       
scholars may work4 ,these regions and   
far beyond1 teem with  pure ,iranian    
place-names to this day2 and you meet in

 and around even  the ,peshawar district
 individuals bearing names of old       
,iranian heroes  which1 if the theory of
 persecution-mongers be correct1 would  
be an  anathema to the bigoted followers
 of ,muhammad4           99       99    
99       99       99    ,it is1 above   
all1 ,arabic literature which upsets the
 easy fiction of  total destruction of  
,iranian culture by the ,arabs4 ,in its 
various  departments of history1        
geography and general science ,arabic   
works  incorporate extensive material   
for a history of ,iranian civilization1 
while ,arabic poetry abounds in         
references to ,zoroastrian ,iran4 ,the  
former is illustrated by ,professor     
,inostranzev's pioneer ,russian essay   
of which the main body of this book is a
 translation4 ,the ,appendices are      
intended to be supplementary and to be  
at once a continuation and a  possible  
key--continuation of the researches of  
the ,russian scholar and  key to the    
contemned store-house of ,arabic        

letters4    ,professor ,inostranzev is  
in little need of introduction to       
,english  scholars4 ,he has already been
 made known in ,india by the            
indefatigable  ,shams-ul-,ulma ,dr4     
,jivanji ,modi1 ,ph4,d41 ,c4,i4,e41 who 
got translated1 and  commented on1 his  
,russian paper on the curious ,astodans 
or receptacles  for human bones         
discovered in the ,persian ,gulf region4
 ,he shares with  ,professor ,browne of 
,cambridge and the great ,m4 ,blochet a 
unique  scholarly position3 he combines 
an intimate knowledge of ,avesta        
civilization with a familiarity with    
classical ,arabic4 ,it is not  wilfully 
to ignore the claims of ,goldziher1     
,brockelmann or ,sachau or  the ,dutch  
savants de ,goeje and ,van ,vloten4     
,deeply as they investigated  ,arabic   
writings1 it was ,m4 ,inostranzev who   
first revealed to us the  worth of      
,arabic3 he unearthed chapters embedded 
in ,arabic books which  are paraphrase  
or translation of ,pahlavi originals4   

,he had but one  predecessor and that   
was a countryman of his1 ,baron ,rosen4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,in preparing the ,appendices1 which are
 there to testify to the value of       
,arabic literature especially the annals
 and the branch of it called  ,adab1 ,i 
have availed myself of the courtesy of  
various institutions and  individuals4  
,bombay1 perhaps the wealthiest town in 
the ,east where  prosperous ,musalmans  
form a most important factor of its     
population1 has  not one public library 
containing any tolerable collection of  
,arabic  books edited in ,europe4 ,time 
after time wealthy ,parsis whose        
interest ,i  enlisted have received from
 me lists of books to form the nucleus  
of an  ,arabic library but apparently   
they need some further stimulus to      
appreciate how indispensable ,arabic is 
for research into ,iranian  antiquities4
 ,the ,bombay ,government have expended 
enormous sums in  collecting ,sanskrit  
manuscripts--a most laudable            

pursuit--and have  published a series of
 admirable texts edited by some of the  
eminent  ,sanskrit scholars1 ,western   
and ,indian4 ,but the numerous ,moslem  
,anjumans  do not appear to have        
demonstrated to the greatest ,moslem    
,power in the  world1 or its            
representative in ,bombay1 the necessity
 of a corresponding  solicitude for     
,arabic and ,persian treasures which    
undoubtedly exist1  though to a lesser  
extent1 in the ,presidency4 ,and what   
holds true of  ,bombay holds good in    
case of the rest of ,india4 ,some of the
 libraries in  ,upper ,india in         
,hyderabad1 ,rampur1 ,patna1 ,calcutta  
possess along with  manuscript material 
cheap mutilated ,egyptian reprints of   
magnificent  texts brought out in       
,leiden1 ,paris and ,leipzig4 ,nowhere  
in ,india is  available to a research   
scholar a complete set of ,european     
publications  in ,arabic1 which a few   
thousand rupees can purchase4 ,the state
 of  affairs is due to ,moslem apathy1  

politics claiming a disproportionate    
share of their civic energy1 to         
,government indifference and to some    
extent ,parsi supineness and prejudice  
which1 despite the community's  vaunted 
advancement1 has failed to estimate at  
its proper worth their  history as      
enshrined in the language of the        
pre-judged ,arab4    ,moulvi ,muhammad  
,ghulam ,rasul ,surti1 of ,bombay1      
himself a scholar1 lent  me from his    
bookshop expensive works which few      
private students could  afford to buy4  
,no western book-seller could have      
conceived a purer love  of learning or a
 gaze less rigidly fixed on business4   
,sir ,john  ,marshall1 ,director        
,general of ,archaeology in ,india1     
continued very  kindly to permit me use 
of books after ,i had severed official  
connection  with his library at ,simla4 
,dr4 ,spooner who acted for him         
obligingly saw  that as far as he was   
concerned no facilities were            
incontinently  withdrawn from me at     

,benmore4 ,i have particularly to thank 
the ,librarian  of the ,imperial        
,library1 ,calcutta1 who not only posted
 me books in his  charge but went out of
 his way to procure me others4 ,mrs4    
,besant and her  wealthy adherents have 
created at ,adyar the atmosphere        
associated with  the ,ashramas and the  
seats of learning in ancient ,india so  
finely  described by ,chinese           
travellers4 ,the ,oriental ,library     
there is  unsurpassed by any institution
 in ,british or ,indian ruled ,india4   
,it is  to be wished in the interests of
 pure scholarship that some one         
succeeds--,i did not--in prevailing on  
the ,president of the ,theosophical     
,society to lend books to scholars who  
may not be equal to the exertion  of    
daily travelling seven miles from       
,madras to ,adyar4 ,her insistence on  a
 rigid imitation of ,british ,museum    
rules in ,india1 mainly because so  many
 of the ,theosophical fraternity cut out
 pages and chapters from  books once    

allowed to be borrowed by them1 inflicts
 indiscriminate  penalty on honest      
research and seals up against legitimate
 use books  nowhere else to be found in 
,india4    ,i reserve for the ,second   
,part of this book some observations on 
the  ,russian language with reference to
 ,orientalism1 and ,arabic and ,persian 
literatures in particular4 ,only after  
the outbreak of the ,war some  interest 
has been aroused in ,england in matters 
,russian generally and a  number of     
grammars and dictionaries and other aids
 to the study of this  most difficult   
language have recently been placed on   
the market for the  use of students who 
only a brief three years ago had to     
depend mainly on  ,german for           
acquisition of ,russian4 ,this neglect  
of ,russian is wholly  undeserved4 ,it  
is doubtful if the researches into      
,oriental histories and  literatures by 
the ,russians have been yet adequately  
appreciated in  ,england1 the tireless  
efforts of ,dr4 ,pollen and the         

,anglo-,russian  ,literary ,society     
notwithstanding4 ,it is apparently still
 presumed that  ripe scholarship in     
,arabic and ,sanskrit is inconceivable  
except through  the medium of the       
languages of ,western ,europe4 ,no      
unworthy disparagement  of ,french      
labours is at all suggested4 ,but it is 
only fair to ,russia to  remember in    
,india that the absence of a ,serg      
d',oldenberg would leave a  lacuna which
 must be felt in ,buddhist ,sanskrit2   
without ,tzerbatski the  ,jain          
literature both ,magadhi and ,sanskrit  
would be appreciably poorer2  and that  
the ,continent has produced nothing to  
exceed the series of  ,buddhist         
,sanskrit texts of ,petrograd1 where was
 published the still  largest ,sanskrit 
lexicon4 ,naturally in the province of  
,chinese and  ,japanese the ,russian    
,academy at ,vladivostock stood facile  
princeps  till only the other day its   
magnificent rival was established in    
,london  under the direction of ,dr4    

,denison ,ross4 ,an individual scholar  
like  ,khanikoff1 who like most of his  
countrymen in the last century preferred
  to write in ,french1 and a ,zukovski  
has done more signal service to         
,persian antiquities than could be      
honestly attributed to many a ,german   
name familiar to ,indian scholars4 ,the 
distinguishing feature of the  ,russian 
investigator1 devoted to the past of    
,persia1 is his uncommon  equipment4    
,the ,russian bring to their task a     
mature study of ,semitic  languages and 
acquaintance with ,avesta philology4    
,arabic literature  teems with allusions
 to the religions1 dogma1 customs and   
the court of  ,sasanian ,iran4 ,once    
intended for contemporaries equally at  
home in the  ,arabic and ,persian idioms
 these references have in course of time
 grown  obscure to copyists who have    
mutilated ,iranian names of persons and 
places and specific ,zoroastrian terms  
which had become naturalised in  the    
language of the ruling ,arabs4 ,it is   

scholars like ,baron ,rosen and         
,rosenberg who have adequately          
appreciated the value of ,arabic texts  
in  which are interwoven verbal         
translations of celebrated ,pahlavi     
treatises4 ,two such have been          
disinterred by the industry and         
erudition  of ,inostranzev4    ,this is 
the first book to be translated from    
,russian into ,english by an  ,indian   
and the obvious difficulties of the task
 may be pleaded to excuse  some of the  
shortcomings of a pioneer undertaking4  
,i look for my reward  in on awakened   
interest in ,arabic books which hold in 
solution more  information on ,persia   
than any set work on the history of     
,iran4    ,it would not be in place to  
advert to the present state of hapless  
chaos  in ,persia4 ,the most sympathetic
 outsider1 however1 cannot help         
observing  that her misfortunes are less
 due to her neighbours and their mutual 
relations than to her too rapid         
political strides and adoption of exotic

  administrative machinery repugnant to 
the genius of the ancient nation4       
,whatever the attitude of individual    
,mullas towards non-,moslems in the     
past the central authority and the      
people as a whole are actuated to-day   
with a spirit of patriotism which is    
still the keynote of the character  of  
,persia's noble manhood and womanhood4  
,it declines to make religion  the      
criterion of kinship4    ,the           
inconsistency in the spelling of ,arabic
 words has not altogether  been         
avoidable being due partly to a desire  
to adhere to the orthography  adopted by
 authors whom ,i have consulted4        
,,simla1 ,g4,k4 ,,nariman4              
,september1 #aiag4          ,,chapter ,i
    ,iranian literary tradition in the  
opening centuries of ,islam #a    ,the  
character of the ,persian history during
 the ,sasanian epoch #f    ,importance  
of this epoch according to the ,arab    
writers of the first  centuries of      
,islam #aj    ,the position of the      

,parsi community and the centres of the 
preservation  of ,persian tradition     
during the period of the ,khalifat in   
,tabaristan1  ,khorasan and ,fars #ae   
,the castle of ,shiz in the district of 
,arrajan in the province of ,fars       
described by ,istakhri1 p4 #aah1 #b-d2  
#aej1 #ad-g2 ,ibn ,hauqal1 p4 #ahi1     
#a-b2  cf4 the translator of the ,khoday
 ,nameh1 ,behram1 son of ,mardanshah of 
the city of ,shapur in the province of  
,fars #ai    ,this castle was the       
residence of those acquainted with the  
,iranian  tradition 7the badhgozar7 and 
here their archives were lodged #bj     
,,arabic ,,writers ,,as ,,sources ,,of  
,,sasanian ,,culture4    ,to the        
,iranian element belongs a very rich rle
 in the external as well  as the        
internal history of ,islam4 ,its        
influence is obvious and constant  in   
the history of the ,moslem nations'     
spread over centuries4 ,whenever  the   
circumstances have been favourable it   
has been clearly manifest2  when the    

conditions have been hostile it is not  
noticeable at the first  glance but in  
reality has been of great consequence4  
,the causes of this  are very           
complicated4 ,and it is necessary on    
account of its universal  value to      
examine a wide concatenation of facts4  
,but from a general point  of view there
 is no doubt that it has its roots      
principally in the  continuity of the   
historical and cultural traditions4     
,particular  significance attaches to   
the circumstance that just in the epoch 
preceding the ,arab conquest ,persia had
 experienced a period of national       
revival after the horrors that its      
sovereignty had undergone1 at the       
hands1 for instance1 of ,alexander the  
,great4#a ,therefore for the study  of  
,iranian tradition in ,islam the period 
of the ,sasanian dynasty  preceding the 
,arab conquest has a special            
significance4    ,footnote #a3 ,this is 
explained by the hatred given expression
 to in the  ,parsi tradition regarding  

,alexander4 ,comp4 ,j4 ,darmesteter ,la 
,legende de  ,alexandre chez les        
,parses4 ,essais ,orientaux1 ,paris     
#ahhc1 pp4 #bbg-bea4    ,the ,sasanian  
dynasty issuing from a small            
principality in the south of  ,persia--a
 principality which1 properly speaking  
bears the title of the  kernel of the   
,persian nation--occupies a considerable
 position in  ,persian history4 ,wide   
imperial aims were united with a        
plenitude of  solid organisation of     
government so perfect that it passed    
into a  proverb among the ,arabs4 ,in   
this last connection the ,sasanian      
tradition  survived for a long time a   
number of ,moslem dynasties4 ,the       
powerful  influence which ,iranian      
tradition exercised was felt by the     
,abbaside  ,khahlifs and after them by  
the ,turkish ,seljuks4 ,but not only the
 science  of government1 a good deal of 
other matters of cultural and historical
  importance in the latter times have   
their explanation in the ,sasanian      

epoch4 ,placed on the confines of the   
,greco-,roman world on the one hand1    
and ,china and ,india on the other1     
,sasanian ,persia served during the     
course of a long time as a central mart 
of exchange of a mental as well  as of a
 material nature4 ,as against the       
,achaemenides1 emulating the high       
,semitic culture of the ,west and the   
,hellenistic endeavours preceding the   
,parthian dynasty1 the ,sasanians       
pre-eminently were the promulgators of  
the ,iranian principles4 ,alongside of  
this1 however1 although in a            
subordinate position1 the development of
 the ,hellenistic movement and  the     
ancient ,irano-,semitic syncretism      
continued to proceed4  ,simultaneously  
an ethical amalgamation proceeded       
especially in ,western  ,persia where   
,semiticism was powerful for a          
lengthened period1  ,nevertheless1 the  
,sasanians continued the unification of 
the ,iranian  inhabitants of central and
 western ,persia4 ,the political system 

of the  ,sasanian emperors#a was based  
on this fusion4 ,before it pales the    
importance of the other facts regarding 
the political organisation of  the      
,sasanians1--centralisation of          
government in a manner so that the      
elements of feudal constitution made    
themselves felt throughout the          
existence of the empire and even after  
the ,arab conquest1 when it left  traces
 in circles representing ,iranian       
traditions4    ,footnote #a3 ,on the    
constitution of the ,sasanian           
government1 see ,a4  ,christensen1      
,l'empire des ,sasanides1 le peuple1    
l'etat1 la cour1  #aijg4    ,the        
,iranophile tendencies which dominated  
the ,sasanian epoch developed  in       
intimate cooperation with the ,state    
religion 7,mazdaism7 and the ,parsi     
priesthood4 ,among the latter continued 
the production of literary works4       
,besides1 the redaction of the sacred   
books was completed in these times4     
,among them were conserved and          

propagated ,persian ethical ideals1     
which  found expression in literary     
forms1 in ethico-didactic tracts1 like  
those which we notice just in the same  
circles in later times4 ,to the  same   
end were preserved national traditions  
and ritual1 some of which  had nothing  
to do with ,mazdaism4 ,the ethical      
ideals of the church found  strong      
support in the feudalistic circles      
comprising the larger and the  smaller  
landholders1 the dehkans who1 with      
particular zeal1 preserved  ancient     
heroic traditions4    ,alongside of     
these national currents in the ,sasanian
 empire there  operated in full force   
those factors of cultural exchange of   
which we  spoke above4 ,of those factors
 the most important that deserve our    
attention are questions regarding       
education and instruction4 ,in this     
connection1 ,sasanian ,persia found     
itself under powerful influences from   
the ,west4 ,there are sufficient        
reminiscences of neo-,platonic exiles   

from  ,greece at the ,sasanian ,court   
and of the school of medicine in which  
the  leading part belonged to ,hellenic 
physicians4 ,at the same time in the    
same field we have to examine other     
influences4 ,for ,sasanian ,persia did  
not remain stranger to the sciences of  
,india4 ,we have information  regarding 
the renascence of the activity of the   
translators of  scientific works into   
the ,persian language and the tradition 
of this  activity survived down to the  
,moslem times4 ,in connection with this 
theoretical scientific activity stood   
high perfection in exterior  culture    
issuing to a considerable degree from   
exchange of materials4 ,and  even here  
the ,sasanian tradition has survived the
 dynasties2 in the  study of the        
commerce and industry as well as the art
 of the ,moslem  epoch we have          
necessarily to refer back to the        
preceding times of the  ,persian        
history4    ,in pre-,moslem ,arabia the 
high development of the civilisation of 

,sasanian ,persia was well known4 ,among
 the subjects of the great ,persian     
sovereigns in the western provinces of  
their empire there were a large  number 
of ,arabs who in commercial intercourse 
carried1 to tribes of the  ,syrian      
desert and further south to the ,arabian
 peninsula1 reports  regarding the great
 ,iran ,shahar4 ,not only legends of the
 heroic  figures of the ,iranian        
epic--,rustam and ,isfandiar--but       
religious views  and persuasions of the 
,persians found a place and were spread 
among the  ,arab clans4 ,thus we know   
that fire-worshippers were settled among
 the  ,arab tribe of the ,temim4#a      
,footnote #a3 ,see for example ,ibn     
,rustah 7,b4,g4,a4 ,,vii1 p4 #bag1      
#f-i74    ,as regards the political     
influence of the ,persians on the tribes
 of  ,arabia a vast deal has been       
related in the pre-,moslem epoch4 ,as is
  well-known1 thanks mainly to the      
,persian influence1 there was a small   
,arab kingdom of the ,lekhmides in the  

,south-,western portion of the          
,sasanian empire#a4 ,it played its part1
 most beneficial for ,persia1  holding  
back on the one hand ,roman-,byzantine  
onrush from the ,west1 and  on the other
 restraining the perpetual attempts at  
irruption into  ,persian territory by   
,arab nomadic tribes4 ,not long before  
the appearance  of ,islam1 ,sasanian    
influence was extended to the ,arabs and
 the ,south as  well as ,yemen passed   
into the sovereignty of the ,persians4  
,khusro and  his ,court appeared to the 
,arab an unattainable ideal of grandeur 
and  luxury4    ,footnote #a3 ,die      
,dynastie der ,lekhmiden in al-,hira1   
,ein ,versuch zur  arabisch-persischen  
,geschichte zur ,zeit der ,sasaniden    
,berlin1 #ahii4    ,the rapid conquest  
of ,persia by the ,arab warriors proved 
a complete  catastrophe to the ,sasanian
 empire4 ,but ,persian culture was not  
to be  extirpated by the success of     
,arab arms4 ,persia was overwhelmed only
  externally and the ,arabs were        

compelled to preserve a considerable    
deal  of the past4 ,having lost the     
position of rulers1 the ,persian        
priesthood  preserved intact its control
 of the indigenous populace in the eyes 
of  the latter as well as of the foreign
 ,government4 ,the same remark holds    
good of the class of landed             
proprietors4#a ,iranian tradition       
continued  to live ,in and with them4   
,not only what was preserved but all    
that was  destroyed for long left       
vestiges in the memory of the           
conquerors4    ,footnote #a3 ,regarding 
the part played by this class in the    
times of the  ,khalifs1 see ,a4 ,von    
,kramer ,culturgeschiche des orients    
unter den  ,chalifen ,,ii4 pp1 #aej1    
#fb4    ,many years after the ,arab     
conquest the ruins that covered ,persia 
excited  the admiration of the ,arabs4  
,their geographers of the ninth and     
tenth  centuries considered it their    
duty to enumerate the principal         
buildings  of the ,sasanians reminding  

the reader that here ,khusro built in   
his time  in bye-gone days a castle1    
there a mountain fastness1 again at a   
third  place1 a bridge4#a ,regarding    
various ancient structures which had    
survived the ,sasanian times1 we refer1 
inter alia1 to ,istakhri1 7ibid  ,i71   
pp4 #abd2 ,ibn ,hauqal 7ibid ,,ii7 #aie2
 ,ibn ,khordadbeh 7ibid ,,vi7 p4 #dc1   
7text72 ,ibn ,rusteh 7ibid ,,vii71 #aec1
 #afb1 #afd1 #afe1 #aff1 #afg1 #ahi2    
,yakubi  7ibid ,,vii71 #bgj1 #bga1 #bgc1
 c4    ,footnote #a3 ,see the           
enumeration of the noteworthy buildings 
of  ancient ,persia as given in ,makdisi
 7,b4,g4,a4 ,,iii71 p4 #cii1 and        
,ibn-ul-,fakih 7ibid ,v71 p4 #bfg4      
,the remains of the structures1         
monuments of art from the ,sasanian     
times  and the ages preceding them      
attracted the attention of the ,arabs   
and  they have left descriptions of the 
same in more or less detail4#a ,from    
the information of the same ,musalman   
writers we possess accurate  accounts of

 the inhabitants of ,persia and their   
religions4 ,thus1 for  instance1 ,yakubi
 indicates that the inhabitants of      
,isfahan1 ,merv1 and  ,herat1 consisted 
mainly of high-born ,dehkans4#b ,makdisi
 notices a  considerable number of      
fire-worshippers in several provinces of
 ,persia1  for instance1 ,irak and      
,jibal4#c    ,footnote #a3 ,istakhri1 p4
 #bjc1 ,ibn ,hauqal1 p1 #bff1 #bef1     
,makdisi pp4 #cif  and #dde1 ,ibn       
,rusteh1 p4 #aff4    ,footnote #b3      
,yakubi1 pp4 #bgd1 #bgi-bhj4            
,footnote #c3 ,makdisi1 pp4 #abf1 #aid4 
,,istakhri ,,and ,,ibn ,,hauqal#a       
,relate that the inhabitants of several 
localities of ,kerman during the  entire
 ,umayyad period openly professed       
,mazdaism4    ,in a more detailed       
fashion1 however1 the ,arab writers     
notice the ,mazdian  dwellers of ,fars1 
the heart of the ,persian dominion4     
,makdisi says that  in ,fars existed the
 customs of fire-worshippers but that   
the  fire-worshipping inhabitants of the

 capital of the province of ,shiraz  had
 no distinguishing mark on their        
clothes2 from which it follows that  in 
that age these people were in no way    
differentiated from the ,musalman       
subjects4#b ,istakhri#c and ,ibn        
,hauqal#d relate that the bulk of the   
inhabitants of ,fars consisted of       
fire-worshippers and they were there in 
larger number than anywhere else1 ,fars 
being the centre of sacerdotal  and     
cultural life of the empire in the days 
of ,persian independence4  ,very minute 
information is supplied us by these     
writers#e regarding the  ancient castles
 and fire-temples scattered over the    
whole of ,fars in  abundance4 ,the      
latter is of capital importance since   
here was the  residence of those two    
classes of ,persian society1 noblemen   
and priests1  who were the staunchest   
conservators of the ancient national    
tradition4    ,footnote #a3 ,istakhri1  
p4 #afd2 ,ibn ,hauqal1 p4 #bba4         
,footnote #b3 ,see ,makdisi1 pp4 #dba1  

#dbi4    ,footnote #c3 ,p4 #acj4        
,footnote #d3 ,p4 #bjg4    ,footnote #e3
 ,istakhri1 pp4 #aaf-aai2 also p4 #ajj4 
,ibn ,hauqal1 #ahg-aij2  also p4 #aha4  
,it is undoubted that the position of   
the ,parsi community after the  ,moslem 
conquest was comparatively comfortable4 
,still sometimes it was  darkened by    
excessive fanaticism and the intrigues  
of the followers of  other faiths4      
,although sometimes the ,parsis could   
push themselves  forward to positions of
 officials and instructors and played an
  important part in the history of the  
,khalifate1 generally speaking1 this    
community was a close one leading a more
 or less exclusive life1 a  circumstance
 enabling the conservation of national  
peculiarities and  attachment to        
antiquity4 ,as time went on1 however1   
the condition of  their existence       
necessarily became worse and the        
consequence was the  gradual emigration 
of a portion of the community from the  
motherland to  ,western ,india4    ,in  

the entire ,parsi literature we come    
across only one historical  composition 
which recounts this emigration4 ,but the
 narrative is so  obscure that of the   
main occurrence in it there must have   
remained only  a general memory4#a ,this
 book is called the ,kisseh-,sanjan and 
was  written at a very late date at the 
very close of the #afth century1 so     
that the data given in it have to be    
looked upon as a reverberation of       
ancient tradition4#b    ,footnote #a3   
,the modern historian and ,parsi scholar
 ,karaka1 in analysing  the events      
subsequent to the ,arab conquest follows
 the views of the old  ,school of       
writers regarding this epoch as a       
complete destruction of all  the        
previous organisation and the triumph of
 fanaticism of the new  faith4 ,see     
,d4,f4 ,karaka1 ,history of the ,parsis1
 ,vol ,i2 on the history  of the ,parsis
 subsequent to the ,arab invasion see   
page #bb ff4    ,footnote #b3 ,e4,b4    
,easrwick1 ,translation from the        

,persian of the  ,kisseh-,sanjan or     
,history of the arrival and settlement  
of the ,parsis  in ,india4              
,j4,b4,b4,r4,a4,s41 ,i4 #ahdd1 pp4      
#afg-aia4 7,see also ,vol4 #ba1  extra  
number1 #ajje1 pp4 #aig-ii74    ,from   
the circumstances detailed in this book 
it appears that the  emigrators after   
the establishment of ,musalman          
domination passed a  hundred years in a 
mountainous locality and only after the 
lapse of  these long years migrated to  
,hormuz1 from where they proceeded to   
the  peninsula of ,gujarat and finally  
after negotiations with the local chief 
settled in ,sanjan4 ,subsequently fresh 
refugees joined them from  ,khorasan4   
,from this last we can infer that the   
emigration was gradual  and this is     
confirmed by the fact that in case of   
migration in a mass  the diaspora of the
 ,parsis would have left some traces in 
the ,arabic  literature4 ,further there 
is no doubt that considerable number of 
,parsis  remained behind in their       

country and their descendants are the   
modern  ,persian ,guebres who1 together 
with the ,parsis of ,india1 may be      
called  the only preservers of ancient  
,iranian tradition to the present times4
    ,thus1 throughout ,persia in the    
first centuries of ,islam national      
elements with1 changed fortunes         
persisted in their existence4 ,it is1   
however1 to be remarked that their      
success was not uniform in1 every       
quarter of the country1 that their fate 
depended to a considerable  extent upon 
the geographical position and the       
historical life of the  various         
provinces of the land4 ,western         
provinces owing to their  proximity to  
the centre of the ,arab ruling life had 
more than the rest  to mingle with1 the 
,arab stream1 and to participate in the 
cycle of  events in the ,arabic period  
of the history of the ,musalman ,east4  
,central  ,persia1 owing to its         
geographical position1 could not        
constitute the  point d'appue of the    

,persian element4 ,for the latter the   
most  favourably situated provinces were
 those in the ,north1 ,east1 and ,south1
  ,tabaristan1 ,khorasan1 and ,fars4    
,,tabaristan4    ,as is well-known      
throughout the floruit of the ,arab     
empire this province  found itself in   
almost entire independence of the       
central power4 ,local  dynasts called   
the ,ispahbeds enjoyed practical        
independence and in those  times        
,arabo-,moslem influences simply did not
 exist4 ,local  rulers1--,bavendids1    
,baduspans1 ,karenides--appeared        
successively or  simultaneously         
following the traditions left to them by
 the ,marzbans or  the land holders and 
partly the successors of the great ,king
 who were  independent from the times of
 the ,arsacide dynasty4#a ,subsequently 
as  ,aliides and ,ziyarids1 they were   
closely attached to ,shiaism with its   
definite expression of ,persian         
sympathy4 ,nevertheless1 this province  
was  not favourable for a particularly  

successful national evolution4 ,the     
fact was that even in the ,sasanian     
epoch ,tabaristan remained a distant    
and obscure frontier division and did   
not take part in the progress of        
civilisation of the times4 ,therefore it
 could not form the centre of  gravity  
of ,persian life although there is no   
doubt that in several  respects in this 
province there were preserved typical   
features of  ,sasanian antiquity4       
,footnote #a3 ,for a general conspectus 
of the history of the provinces  with   
regard to their independence during the 
,sasanian and ,arab  domination1 see1   
e4g4 ,f4 ,justi1 ,g4,i4 ,ph41 ,,ii1 pp4 
#edg-di--;,history of  ,iran from the   
earliest to the end of the ,sasanides in
 ,german--,appendix  ,i4                
,,khorasan4    ,it was otherwise with   
the ,eastern provinces of ,khorasan1 too
 far distant  from the territary        
occupied by the ,arab settlers1 and too 
densely  inhabited by ,iranians to      
rapidly lose its previous               

characteristics4 ,on  the contrary1 we  
know from the historians that in this   
province ,iranian  elements remained    
steadfast throughout the ,umayyad       
dynasty and it was  exclusively due to  
the support given by ,khorasanians to   
the ,abbasides  that the latter         
succeeded in overthrowing the previous  
dynasty and  commenced the era of       
powerful ,iranian influences in the     
history of the  ,musalman ,orient4#a    
,khorasan played a vital part in the    
development of  the modern ,persian     
literature and especially its chief     
department1  poetry4 ,the entire early  
period of the history of modern ,persian
 poetry1  from ,abbas welcoming with an 
ode ,khalif ,mamun into ,merv down to   
,firdausi1 may be labelled ,khorasanian4
 ,there flourished the activity of      
,rudaki1 ,kisai1 ,dakiki1 and other less
 notable representatives of the  early  
period of modern ,persian bards4#b ,the 
culture of poetry was  favoured not only
 by the geographical position of the    

province of  ,khorasan but by its       
political conditions4 ,already in the   
beginning of  the ninth century in      
,khorasan there had arisen national     
,persian  dynasties and under their     
patronage began the renascence of the   
,persian  nation 7,taherides1           
,saffarides1 ,samanides74    ,footnote  
#a3 ,on the history of ,khorasan in the 
,umayyad period see ,j4  ,wellhausen    
,das ,arabische ,reich und ,sein ,sturz1
 p1 #bdg f4 and p4 #cjf  f4    ,footnote
 #b3 ,see the general survey of this    
period in ,j1 ,darmesteter1  ,the       
,origins of the ,persian ,poesy1 in     
,french and ,e4,g4 ,browne ,literary    
,history of ,persia1 ,i1 p1 #cej ff4    
,,fars4    ,under different             
circumstances but with considerable     
significance for the  ,persian national 
ideals lay the ,southern province of    
,fars4 ,here with  tenacious insistence 
survived not only national but also     
political  traditions of ancient        
,sasanian ,persia4 ,here was the centre 

of a  government and from here started  
fresh dynasties4 ,after the ,arab       
conquest this province came into much   
more intimate connection with the       
,khalifate1 than1 for instance1         
,khorasan4 ,but ,persian elements were  
favoured by its geographical            
position1--the mountainous character of 
its  situation and the consequent       
difficulty of access by the invaders4   
,we  already produced above the         
information of the ,arab geographers of 
the  tenth century regarding the        
abundance of fire-temples and castles in
  ,fars4 ,they relate that there was no 
village or hamlet of this province  in  
which there was no fire-temple4         
,residence was taken up in strong       
castles by the native aristocrats whose 
ideals were rooted in the  ,sasanian    
epoch4 ,just in these geographers1      
,istakhri and ,ibn ,hauqal1 is  to be   
found information of unusual importance1
 so far as we can judge1  regarding the 
conservation of the ,parsi tradition in 

,fars ,these authors  have been up to   
now not only not appreciated but their  
significance for  our question has not  
yet been adequately recognised4         
,istakhri and ,ibn ,hauqal enumerating  
the castles of ,fars declare as  follows
 regarding the castle of ,shiz3#a       
,the castle of ,shiz is situated in the 
district of ,arrajana4 ,there live      
fire-worshippers#b who know ,persia and 
her past4 ,here they study4 ,this       
castle is very strong4    ,footnote #a3 
,istakhri1 p4 #aah1 #b-d2 ,ibn ,hauqal1 
p1 #ahj1 #a-b4    ,footnote #b3 ,in the 
text occurs the ,persian word badgozar1 
that is to  say1 the rhapsodists1 the   
relators of the national traditions2 on 
this  word see ,b4,g4,a4 ,,iii1 pp4     
#ahb-hc1 and ,vuller's ,lexicon         
,persico-,latinum  ,s4,v4 ,for a        
parallel to the archives of the         
,achamenide empire see ,f4  ,justi1 ,ein
 ,tag aus den ,leben des konigs ,darius4
    ,further we read the following in   
,istakhri 7page #aej1 #ad-ag73--    ,in 

the district of ,sabur on the mountain  
there are likenesses of all  the        
noteworthy ,persian kings and grandees1 
of illustrious preservers of  fire1 high
 mobeds and others4 ,their portraits1   
their acts and  narratives about them   
are successively recorded in volumes4   
,with  particular care are preserved    
these volumes by the people living in a 
locality in the district of ,arrajan    
called the castle of ,shiz4    ,from    
this information we learn that in one of
 the castles of ,fars down  to the tenth
 century there were preserved           
manuscripts written probably  in the    
,pahlavi language containing narratives 
from ,persian history and  illustrated  
with1 portraits after the style of the  
,sasanian reliefs to  be found in the   
rocks in the district of ,sabur4#a ,this
 strong mountain  fastness was probably 
little accessible to the ,arabs and     
afforded an  asylum to the mobeds1      
dehkans and others interested in the    
past of  their country4    ,footnote #a3

 ,that is after the style of the        
,sasanian bass-reliefs which  were      
preserved in his time on the rocks in   
the vicinity of ,shapur and  the most   
famous type of which are the            
bass-reliefs representing the  triumphs 
of the ,sasanian ,shapur ,i1 over the   
emperor ,valentine4      ,these facts   
generally important for the history of  
the preservation of  the epic1 historic 
and artistic traditions of ,iran1 are   
particularly  important for the         
investigation of the sources of the     
,arabic  translations of the ,sasanian  
chronicles and of the epopee of         
,firdausi4  ,as we know1 the translators
 of these chronicles were ,persian      
fire-worshippers or ,musalmans who had  
adopted ,islam only externally  and had 
remained true to the ancient ,persian   
religion4 ,among them the  foremost is  
called ,mobed belonging to the city of  
,sabur in the  province of ,fars4 ,he is
 important as a worker in the ,iranian  
historical  tradition and about him we  

shall have occasion to speak later on4  
,this  ,mobed probably made ,arabic     
translations of ,sasanian chronicles    
from  materials in the archives in the  
castle of ,shiz4 ,further1 the          
information adduced by us above         
regarding the castle refers to times a  
little previous to the age of ,firdausi 
and undoubtedly among the  materials in 
these archives were the sources of the  
,shah ,nameh which  were available to   
,firdausi through intermediate versions4
 ,finally1 we  see that these ,sasanian 
histories were illustrated1 a fact which
 is  confirmed by the statement of other
 ,arab writers as we shall see later    
on4 ,generally the district of ,arrajan 
enjoyed its ancient glory with          
reference to its cultural connections4  
,yakut#a has preserved for us the       
information that at ,raishahar in the   
district of ,arrajan there lived in  the
 ,sasanian times men1 versed in a       
peculiar species of syllabary who  wrote
 medical1 astronomical and logical      

works4    ,footnote #a3 ,muajjam ul     
,buldan1 ed4 ,wustenfeld1 ,,ii1 p4 #hhg4
 ,this  passage has been translated by  
,barbier de ,maynard in his             
,geographical1  ,historical and         
,literary ,dictionary of ,persia1 in    
,french1 pp4 #bgj-bga4  ,see also       
,fihrist ,,ii1 p1 #aje4    ,what we have
 studied above establishes the existence
 of ,persian literary  tradition in its 
national form for several centuries     
after the ,arab  invasion4 ,now we have 
to survey wherein lie the characteristic
 features  of this tradition and what   
were its main contents4 ,and we pass on 
to  their consideration4                
,,chapter ,,ii    ,the ,parsi ,clergy   
and the ,musalman ,iranophile party of  
the ,shuubiya #bf    ,the part played by
 them in the conservation of the        
,persian literary  tradition #cj    ,the
 different varieties of this tradition2 
scientific1 epico-historic1  legendary  
and ethico-didactic #cb      ,,parsi    
,,clergy ,,preserve ,,tradition    ,we  

have demonstrated above that in the time
 subsequent to the ,arab  conquest      
,iranian tradition found a congenial    
asylum in the bosom of the  ,parsi      
priesthood4 ,there it was maintained and
 developed orally as well  as in a      
written form4 ,the most competent among 
the ,persian historians  who employed   
the ,arabic language in those times     
turned to the ,parsi  clergy for        
information4 ,of this we have first-hand
 proof in their own  works and in the   
quotations from other works preserved in
 later authors4  ,for example1 they     
frequently remark the ,mobedan-mobed    
related to me1  the mobed so and so told
 me and so on4 ,in their quest for      
ancient  ,persian books1 too1 ,arab     
authors searched for them among the     
,parsi  priesthood and it was only there
 that they found them4 ,thus it was the 
merit of the ,parsi community that it   
conserved ,iranian traditions daring    
unfavourable times and handed them on to
 ,moslem ,persia under more  auspicious 

conditions4    ,involuntarily we are led
 to a comparison1 to their advantage1   
with the  activity of the ,iranophile   
party of the same times in the ,moslem  
community1 the party of the ,shuubiya1#a
 ,in their capacity as promoters  of    
learning and exponents of literature    
they concentrated their activity  in the
 cultured centre of the ,khalifate at   
,baghdad and other cities1 and  being   
familiar with ,persia played an         
important part in the development  of   
,moslem culture of the ,middle ,ages4   
,but in the preservation of the         
,iranian tradition they turned to much  
restricted and greatly exclusive  ,parsi
 circles4 ,in the second half of the    
tenth century and in the  eleventh      
century the currents which were         
preparing the ,persian  renascence party
 were lost and their significance       
forgotten4 ,but for  the purpose of     
illuminating historical questions a     
careful examination  of these currents  
deserves our undivided attention4 ,it   

was owing to them  that literary        
materials were preserved which were     
sometimes direct  translations from     
books belonging to the ,sasanian period4
 ,the course by  which these materials  
found their way into ,arabic literature 
can be  definitely traced4 ,they came   
from ,parsi centres through older       
circles  of ,moslem civilisation which  
were sympathetic towards ,persia4       
,generally  speaking they were          
trustworthy transmitters4 ,as a matter  
of fact the  ,shuubiya turned only to   
the ,parsi circles for materials and in 
the  explanation of the material they   
did not distinguish them from their     
other sources4 ,their sources betray    
themselves by an exaggerated ,parsi     
partiality where the penchant of these  
circles is clearly manifest4 ,and  these
 are intimately connected with certain  
questions of daily  life1--the struggle 
for power between the ,arab and the     
,iranian element  in the ,khalifate4    
,enthusiastic partisans of the ,persian 

element1 these  circles as a            
counterblast to the poverty of          
civilizing factors of the  pre-,islamic 
,arab nation1 turned to the glories of  
,persia1 principally  of the ,sasanian  
past4 ,iranophile writers had no need   
for inventions1  since historical truth 
was on their side4 ,the effectiveness of
 their  method was indisputable4 ,in    
this connection ,iranian tradition among
 the  ,musalmans as transmitted by ,arab
 writers must take precedence of a      
similar transmission1 the ,christian    
literature of the ,east1 where all      
possibility was excluded of polemics    
such as obtained under the ,moslem      
domination between the pro-,iranian and 
anti-,iranian parties4 ,it is1          
therefore1 to be regretted that the     
literary activities of the ,musalman    
circles sympathising with ,persian      
culture have descended to us only in    
occasional extracts and are sometimes   
confined only to the titles of  books   
written by them4    ,footnote #a3 ,for  

details1 ,goldziher4 ,muhammedanische   
,studien1 ,i1  #adg-caj4    ,we noticed 
above the revival of scientific         
activities in ,sasanian  ,persia4 ,this 
activity for the most part has its      
significance in its  quality of being a 
connecting link1 in the first place1 as 
the  transmitter of ,greek knowledge to 
the ,east1 and secondly1 as the unifier 
of this knowledge with the heritage     
which ,sasanian ,persia had received    
from scientific works belonging to      
,semitic culture1 as well as from the   
science of ,india4 ,the principal       
representatives of this activity were   
not ,persians1 but ,christians1 mainly  
the ,syrian ,nestorians1 and            
,monophysites from the school of        
,edessa4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,for a      
general account of the character of this
 activity see  ,t4,j4 de ,boer1 ,history
 of ,philosophy in ,islam1 #ag-bj4      
,what was the share in these operations 
of the ,persians themselves it is  hard 
to tell4 ,but at all events1 it was not 

considerable4#a ,the general  character 
of this activity does not leave         
particular room for wide  creative      
science1 since it has expressed itself  
pre-eminently in  compilations1         
translations of philosophical1          
astronomical1 astrological1  medical1   
mathematical and ethical commentaries on
 ,greek and some ,indian  authors4 ,it  
was not in this field that the activity 
of the ,persian  sacerdotal community in
 the ,sasanian epoch was concentrated4  
,and  latterly in the period of the     
development of analogous scientific work
  dining the eastern ,khalifate under   
the ,abbasides the principal role       
belonged just to the same class of      
scholars1 ,christian ,syrians1 with     
just this difference that the activity  
of the latter continued among the       
,musalman alumni of various             
nationalities whilst in ,sasanian       
,persia their  operations were cut short
 by the unfortunate circumstances of the
 ,arab  inroads4 ,it is interesting that

 in the ,abbaside period the            
translations  made from the ,persian    
authors or authors belonging to ,persia 
appertain  to a certain special genre of
 works of a technical nature1 books on  
warfare#b1 on divination1 on            
horse-breaking#c1 on the training of    
other animals1 and on birds#d trained to
 hunting4 ,these special  treatises were
 of no abstract scientific contents but 
referred to the  practical demands of   
life4    ,footnote #a3 ,as regards      
philosophical traditions of ,sasanian   
,persia in  the ,musalman epoch         
principally we may refer to the         
influence of the  system of ,zervanism  
on the adherents of the system of       
,dahar1 de  ,boer #ae and #gf4          
,footnote #b3 ,see my studies on the    
,ain-,nameh4    ,footnote #c3 ,see my   
book on ,materials from ,arabic ,sources
 for ,culture  ,history of ,sasanian    
,persia4    ,footnote #d3 ,fihrist #cae4
    ,a different kind of importance     
attaches to histories devoted to        

government and national life of the     
,sasanian period and to the epic and    
literary tradition of ,persia4 ,their   
value as history has been  acknowledged 
and appreciated by the progressive      
circles of the ,musalman  community4    
,contemporary researches directing the  
greatest attention to  this aspect of   
,iranian movement appreciated its value 
and thanks to  their works1 we are      
enabled to speak with some clearness    
regarding  books of exceeding           
importance4 ,traces of ancient ,iranian 
epic tradition  are observable in some  
,greek writers1 ,ktesias1 ,herodotus1   
,elian1 ,charen  of ,mytelene and       
,atheneus4 ,but it has survived in a    
considerable quantity  in the ,avesta4#a
    ,footnote #a3 ,the principal works  
for investigating the ,persian          
historical and literary tradition are1  
besides the introduction to his  edition
 and translation of the ,shah-,nameh by 
,mohl1 ,noeldeke's ,german  ,history of 
the ,persians1 and ,arabs at the time of

 the ,sasanians1 his  introduction1 and 
his ,iranian national epic ,g4,i4,ph4   
,,ii1 #acj--bab2 ,baron  ,rosen1 ,on the
 question of the ,arabic translations of
 the ,khudai ,nameh  7,paraphrase by    
,kirst in ,w4,z4,k4,m4,x1 #ahif72 ,h4   
,zotenberg1 ,history of the  ,kings of  
,persia by ,al-,thalibi1 ,arabic text   
with translation1 especially  ,preface1 
,,xli-,,xliv4 ,a number of profound     
ideas and ingenious suggestions  are    
made in the various articles and reviews
 by ,gutschmid4 7,see ,appendix  ,v1 p4 
#ada74    ,the most recent and pregnant 
exposition is by ,lehmann4    ,it       
existed also in official writings of the
 ,sasanian times1 recensions  of which1 
we possess in several ,arab histories   
and in the ,shah ,nameh4  ,like the     
scientific literature these writings    
were subjected to a final  redaction    
towards the close of the ,sasanian      
dynasty and it is this  recension that  
has mainly come down to posterity4      
,alongside of official  writings of a   

general character1 there existed various
 books of  epic-historical contents1 for
 instance1 the ,yadkari-,zariran4#a ,as 
in  these writings1 so in the versions  
appearing from them at later times1  the
 materials embodied were of a kindred   
nature1 like the ,romance of  ,behram   
,chobin1 ,story of ,behram ,gor1 the    
narrative of the introduction  into     
,persia of the ,game of ,chess4 ,besides
 these there were writings  relating to 
local histories4 ,it is noteworthy that 
the epic element was  and is preserved  
with persistence by the ,parsis4 ,mohl  
notes that the  majority of ,persian    
epic poems1 excepting the ,shah ,nameh1 
has been  preserved only in manuscripts 
belonging to ,parsis#b4 ,farther        
development of this phase of ,persian   
literary tradition bifurcated into  two 
directions4 ,it has been shown that the 
official chronicles of the  ,sasanian   
times exercised influence on the        
development of the ,musalman  science of
 history4 ,on the other hand1 the epic  

was resuscitated in  heroic romances and
 tales#c4 ,alongside of the historical  
traditions and  the epos stands the     
romantic poesy which has entered into   
,musalman  literature in a marked degree
 in the shape of ,iranian tradition4 ,at
 the  time this species of poetry       
prospered in ,arabic literature there   
was a  strong ,persian influence and    
some of its representatives were        
undoubtedly inclined to ,persian        
literary motifs1 for instance1 the      
,shuubite ,sahal ,ibn ,harun4#d         
,footnote #a3 ,we refer mainly to the   
epic cycle of ,soistan for the views  of
 the authorities on which see ,mohl     
7,,lxii7 and ,noeldeke ,national  ,epic1
 #hj-ha4 ,as a supplement to the        
bibliography furnished by ,noeldeke  see
 ,v4 ,rugarli1 the ,epic of ,kershasp1  
,g4,s4,a4,i41 ,,xi1 #cc-ha1 #ahih4      
,footnote #b3 ,,lxvii1 note #b4         
,footnote #c3 ,on the process of the    
latter nature see ,mohl ,,lxxii ff4     
,regarding one of the principal         

representatives of the later stage of   
this development see ,abu ,taher        
,tarsusi1 ,encyclopaedia of ,islam1 #a1 
#aae4    ,footnote #d3 ,fihrist #abj1   
#a-ac4 ,for this kind of poetry see     
,fihrist #cjf1  #h-cjh1 #ad1 and compare
 also the books characterised at page   
#cad1 #a-g4    ,to the same type of     
literary monuments we have to add the   
vast field of  story literature4        
,although a considerable portion of it  
belongs to the  province of migratory   
subjects1 and although to ,persia       
belongs often  only the rle of the      
transmitter1 nevertheless1 collections  
of stories  of this class undoubtedly   
had their assigned place in the         
,sasanian epoch  and the dependence of  
the core of the ,thousand and ,one      
,nights on the  ,persian stories        
collected in the ,hazar ,afsan#a is     
indisputable4 ,we  shall not1 therefore1
 stop here further regarding facts which
 have been  decided more than once4 ,we 
will only observe that in connection    

with the  ,persian literary age of the  
,sasanians we have to indicate a series 
of  works of the character of epic tales
 arisen from the ancient historical     
period of the western boundary of       
,persia and representing stories of  the
 ,babylonian kingdom which have been    
enumerated among the books of  this     
class and also among ,persian books1--a 
circumstance which proves  that these   
tales originated in ,sasanian           
literature4 ,finally1 just as in        
historical and especially in narrative  
literature1 ,persian tradition  survived
 to the ,musalman times so also it      
continued to live in the  writings of   
the ethico-didactical category4 ,the    
importance of the  ,pahlavi translation 
of the book of ,kalileh and ,dimneh for 
the  migration of this collection of    
tales to the ,west is well-known4 ,the  
significance of ,pahlavi translations is
 not less evident with regard to  the   
,hazar ,afsan in connection with the    
,thousand and ,one ,nights4  ,still     

,persian tradition in the field of      
ethico-didactic literature has  been    
studied and appreciated much less than  
in the historical and story  literature4
 ,we have now to examine a few questions
 in connection with  the ,persian       
tradition regarding the ethico-didactic 
literature of the  early ,musalman      
epoch4 ,we shall devote the following   
chapter to its  study4    ,footnote #a3 
,fihrist #cjd1 #aj-cje1 #b4 ,fihrist    
#cjf1 #f2 ,fihrist #cje1 #g4            
,,chapter ,,iii    ,the ethico-didactic 
books in the ,fihrist 7#cae1 #ai-caf1   
#be7 #ch    ,they are almost exclusively
 of ,persian origin #ch                 
,,ethico-,,didactic ,,literature ,,of   
,,iran    ,opinion on the importance of 
the influence of ethical and didactical 
works of the ,sasanian times on the     
literature of this class of early       
,moslem epoch1 generally speaking has   
been expressed in scientific works  and 
has found admittance into a few general 
surveys of ,persian  literature4 ,to the

 literary monuments go back a number of 
books on what  is called ,adab1 good    
behaviour or agreeable manners1 in      
modern ,persian  literature4 ,besides   
several literary monuments of later     
ages1#a for the  solution of this       
question1 capital importance attaches to
 the  information given in the ,fihrist 
of an-,nadhim which is the fundamental  
source of the history of entire ,arabic 
literature bearing on our period4       
,further on we shall draw upon this work
 with the object of determining  this   
species of literary tradition in ,arabic
 books of the first  centuries of       
,islam4    ,footnote #a3 ,p4 ,horn1     
,geschichte der persischen ,letteratur1 
7,die  ,letteraturen des ,ostens in     
,finzeldarslellungen ,bd ,,vi7 #ch1 and 
,die  ,mittelpersische ,letteratur1     
#bcg4    ,great importance for this     
problem lies in that portion of the     
,fihrist  which when first edited had   
elicited little interest1 and where are 
enumerated the titles of books of       

ethico-didactic character1 ,persian1    
,greek1 ,indian1 ,arabic1 by well-known 
authors and by anonymous  writers#a4 ,we
 are aware that in the ,fihrist there   
are partly ,arabic1  partly ,persian1   
titles of books which have come down to 
us in a  mutilated form1 but at the same
 time some of them have reached us in   
their correct shapes and others are     
often easily restorable4    ,footnote   
#a3 ,fihrist #cae1 #ai-caf1 #bc4    ,in 
this section of the ,fihrist we have in 
all forty-four titles of  books4 ,among 
them a large number can be directly     
traced to ,persian  origin and a portion
 were evidently written under ,persian  
influence4 ,to  the first class we have 
no hesitation in assigning fourteen     
names of  books1 since as we shall see1 
two of them or possibly three pertain to
  one and the same work4 ,we will       
examine these titles in some detail4    
#a4 ,the first book is by ,zadan        
,farrukh and is a testament to his      
son#a4  ,although we are not able to    

recall a book of this title among the   
,pahlavi literature that has come down  
to us1 still the general character  of  
this work is presented to us in perfect 
definiteness4 ,it is  undoubtedly one of
 the testaments or counsels1 the        
so-called ,pand  ,nameh or ,andarz1 of a
 father to a son1 or some one person to 
another1  and the typical               
representatives of which in the ,pahlavi
 literature  appear to be the well-known
 book of testament of ,adarbad to his   
son1 the  book of advice to his son by  
,khosro ,anushirvan and the book of     
counsel  to the latter by his ,wazir1   
,buzurj ,meher#b4    ,footnote #a3 ,in  
the text the term is ,zadan ,farrukh1   
but ,justi already in  his ,iranisches  
,namenbuch in #ahie proposed the reading
 ,zadan ,farrukh4    ,footnote #b3 ,as  
regards the first1 see my ,materials    
from ,arabic  ,sources1 page #fh-fi4    
,for the second1 ,west ,pahlavi         
literature ,g4,i4 ,ph4  ,,ii1 #aab4 ,for
 the third1 in ,pahlavi verse ,west     

#aac4 ,for ,musalman times  see ,schefer
 ,chrestomathy #c-f and ,salemann and   
,zukovski1 ,persian ,grammar  page      
#da-di4 ,also compare ,melanges         
,asiatiques ,,ix1 #bae4 ,in ,arabic     
,anthologies especially of the character
 of what is known as  ,furstenspiegel   
the maxims of this wise ,wazir are very 
frequently quoted4  ,see for instance1  
,sirajul ,mulk of ,tartushi1 also       
compare the  bibliography in ,v4        
,chaubin1 of ,arabic works1 ,leige      
#ahib1 page #ff4    ,alongside of this  
most celebrated ,pand ,nameh in the     
,pahlavi  literature are also famous a  
number of other analogous literary      
monuments traceable to definite persons1
 while some are anonymous4 ,they  are of
 a nature1 for instance1 of a simple    
testament from father to  son#a4        
,footnote #a3 ,west #aji-aaa1 and       
#aac-aae4    ,as we have already        
observed1 and as we shall have occasion 
to speak  further1 this category of     
literary remains undoubtedly survived in

 the  ,musalman literature and partly in
 the literature of the ,arabs4 ,for the 
study of the ,pahlavi literature this   
class of tracts has already evoked      
attention and has called forth several  
editions and translations4 ,we  notice  
that their interest goes beyond that of 
,pahlavi literature proper  and they are
 important also for the history of the  
literature of  ,musalman nations4       
,moreover1 they are of interest from a  
general point of  view1 for the study of
 ,musalman culture4 ,in fact1 by their  
very  character these works are brief   
catechisms with no pretensions to       
abstract theoretical acquaintance with  
the sacerdotal tracts1 composing        
another important section of ,pahlavi   
literature1 but immediately  connected  
with the daily ordinary life4 ,it goes  
without saying that  whoever read them  
in the original1 their interest did not 
lie in their  theoretical character1 but
 that they were rendered into ,arabic   
and  modern ,persian languages with a   

view to the same practical end4 ,hence  
however monotonous they are1#a whatever 
wearisome character these books         
possess1 they are of great interest for 
the purpose of comparison with  similar 
productions of ,musalman literature and 
for the purpose of  establishing their  
influence in the unfolding of ethical   
ideas of the  ,musalman east1 which are 
far from being clearly made manifest4   
,this side  of the question deserves1 in
 my opinion1 in these days ampler       
attention  and research4    ,footnote   
#a3 ,see ,noeldeke ,persische ,studien  
,,ii1 ,s4,b4,w4,a1 #ahib1 #bi1          
,noeldeke remarks1 with reference to    
this class of literature1 that the      
investigation of this fatiguing business
 demands an unusual amount of  patience1
 see for instance1 the comparison       
instituted between ethical  norm in the 
,parsi and in the ,musalman ,literature 
by ,darmesteter in  ,revue ,critique1   
#ba1 #a-h4    #b4 ,the second book in   
the ,fihrist is attributed to a         

,mobedan-mobed  that is1 head of the    
,parsi clergy1 who in ,arabic texts is  
sometimes  called simply ,al-,mobedan   
and whose name was not understood by    
,flugel#a4  ,the same word is met with  
in a mutilated form in another place in 
the  ,fihrist#b4 7#aai-bj74    ,footnote
 #a3 ,fugel took it for a dual1 and     
consequently divided the name  into two4
    ,footnote #b3 ,the book next        
following is called ,kitab kay ,lorasp  
and  apparently it had to do with       
questions connected with ,persian       
literary  tradition4    ,he is mentioned
 by ,ali ,ibn ,rayhani1 ,arabic author1 
who stood in near  relationship to the  
,khalif and who was partial to the      
,zindiks1 that is1  in this case1 to the
 ,dualists4 ,he is a reputed author of  
several books  among which there is one 
whose title was restored by ,justi in   
the  ,namenbuch#a4 ,the conjecture of   
,justi that this name should be read    
,mihr ,adar ,jushnas is fully supported 
by a sketch of it in a passage of       

interest to us in the ,fihrist4 ,justi  
hesitated to declare whether this  was  
the name of the book or of its author4  
,but in another place in the  text this 
word is accompanied by the designation  
,al-,mobedan from which  we can         
undoubtedly conclude that this book was 
ascribed to a particular  person1 the   
supreme ,mobed ,mihr ,adar ,jushnas4    
,therefore1 this title of  the book     
should be read as that of the book of   
,mihr ,adar ,jushnas1 the  ,mobedan4    
,this book stands at the head of the    
works we are considering in  the        
,fihrist4 ,therefore1 we can fully trace
 it to the ,persian literary  tradition4
    ,footnote #a3 ,namenbuch ,mahr ,adar
 ,jushnes4    #c4 ,similarly there can  
be no scepticism regarding the          
individual nature  of the book called   
the ,book of the ,testament of ,khusro  
to his son  ,ormuz1 the admonition given
 to the latter when he handed over to   
him  the reins of government and the    
reply of ,ormuz4 ,flugel already        

perfectly  correctly noticed that by    
,kisra we must here understand ,kisra   
,anushirvan4 ,in this way in this book  
or in the first half of it we have      
certainly the ,andarz ,khusro1 the      
celebrated work in the ,pahlavi         
literature which has been preserved up  
to our times and which has been         
translated into the ,european           
languages4#a ,it contains a number of   
counsels of ,khusro to his son and      
occupies the place of importance in     
this species of literature4 ,it is of a 
pseudo-epigraphic character4            
,footnote #a3 ,see ,west1 #aab4 ,the    
full title is3 ,andarz-e-,khusro        
,kavadan4  ,,iv4    #d4 ,with this book 
is identical another mentioned just     
there but a little  further and entitled
 the ,book of ,counsels of ,kisra       
,anushirvan to his  son who was called a
 well of eloquence4 ,in this way these  
third and  fourth titles indicate one   
and the same book sufficiently known in 
the  ,persian literary tradition in     

which we are interested4    #e4 ,to the 
same category belongs another book      
ascribed to the ,kisra4 ,it  is possible
 that in this book we have a treatise   
identical with the one  referred to     
above as the book of the ,testament of  
,khosro ,anushirwan1  since in several  
redactions his testaments are           
represented as advice to  his son while 
in some they stand as admonition        
directed to the general  public4#a      
,footnote #a3 ,salemann1                
,mittel-persische ,studen1 ,melanges    
,asiatiques1  ix1 #ahhh1 #bah4    #f4   
,under the sixth heading appears a ,book
 of ,counsels of ,ardeshir  ,babekan to 
his son ,sabur4 ,this work which was    
sufficiently known and  made use of in  
the early ,moslem period has not come   
down to us in the  original ,pahlavi4   
,we know of the existence of a verse    
translation of  this book in the ,arabic
 made by ,belazuri 7,fihrist1 #aac and  
#aad74  ,moreover1 this work was        
considered as a model composition       

7probably as  represented by ,belazuri71
 and in this connection it was          
comparable  7,fihrist #abf1 #ae-ai7 to  
,kalileh wa ,dimneh1 the ,essays of     
,umar ,ibn  ,hamza1#a ,al ,mahanith1#b  
the tract called ,yatima of ,ibn al     
,mukaffa1  and the ,essays of ,ahmed    
,ibn ,yusuf1 secretary of ,mamun4 ,in   
view of the  importance attached to this
 and the following risalas by the author
 of  the ,fihrist1 it would be          
interesting to have their editions and  
translations4    ,footnote #a3 ,a       
relative of the ,khalif ,mansur and     
,mahdi1 a secretary of  the former      
,fihrist1 #aah1 #h-ab4 ,in the ,kitab al
 ,mansur wal ,manzum of  ,ahmed ibn ,abi
 ,taher 7vide ,baron ,b4,p4 ,rosen1 ,on 
the ,anthology of ,ahmed  ibn ,abi      
,taher1 ,journal of the ,russian        
,oriental ,society1 ,vol4 ,,iii1 #ahhi1 
page #bfd74 ,the essay probably referred
 to is called ,rasalat fi al  ,khamis   
lil ,mamun4 7,or ,rislat al ,jaysh74    
,see ,fihrist1 ,,ii1 #eb4    ,footnote  

#b3 ,this was probably the title of the 
epistle of ,umar ,ibn  ,hamza to ,ali   
ibn ,mahan preserved by the same ,ahmed 
ibn ,abi ,taher4 ,as  regards persons by
 the name of ,mahan in the ,musalman    
period see ,justi  ,namenbuch #ahe4     
,extracts from this testament especially
 from its concluding portion1  have been
 handed down to us in the ,kitabat      
,tambih4#a ,they relate to  the prophecy
 of ,zaradusht regarding the destruction
 of the ,persian  religion and empire in
 the course of a thousand years after   
him4#b    ,footnote #a3 ,by the same    
,ahmed ibn ,abi ,taher has been         
preserved the  ,essay of this ,ahmed ibn
 ,yusuf on ,thankfulness--,risalat      
,ahmed ibn  ,yusuf fishshukr which      
possibly is referred to by the author of
 the  ,fihrist4 ,see also there the     
highly important ,risalat ibn ,mukaffa  
fissahobat4    ,b4,g4,a4 ,,viii1 #ih1   
#af-ii1 #a4 ,macoudi1 ,le livre de      
l'avertissement et de  la revision1     
trad4 par ,carra de ,vaux1 ,paris1      

#ahig1 #ada-adb4    ,footnote #b3 ,in   
connection with this prophecy1 as       
regards the changes  which were made in 
the chronological system of the ,persian
 history see  ,a4 ,gutschmid1 ,kleine   
,schriften1 ,,iii1 ,leipzig1 #ahib4     
#bb-bc1 and #ig1  c4    ,it is highly   
interesting that just like the          
well-known testament by  ,tansar to the 
king of ,tabaristan this testament was  
written at a  considerably later period1
 in the time of ,anushirwan4#c          
,footnote #c3 ,see on this question     
,christensen #aaa-aab and ,appendix     
,,vi4    ,regarding the general         
character of this apocryphal testament  
we may  judge by the counsels of the    
founder of the ,sasanian dynasty which  
have  come down to us in various ,arabic
 and ,persian historical works and in   
the ,shah ,nameh4    #g4 ,the #gth title
 refers to the book of a certain mobedan
 mobed on  rhetorical passages which    
were analogous probably to the anonymous
 ,pand  ,namehs which are found in the  

,pahlavi literature4    #h4 ,the #hth is
 the book on the correspondence between 
the ,kisra and a  ,marzban4#a           
,footnote #a3 ,does not this appear like
 a book containing the  correspondence  
on the well-known episode in the history
 of the ,persians  in ,yemen and the    
letters which were exchanged between the
 ,marzban or  ,mavazan and ,khosrau     
,parviz8 7,see ,noeldeke1 ,tabari #bcg1 
#bfd1 #cej-cea74    #i-aj4 ,the #ith and
 the #ajth titles relate to books of    
questions directed  on a certain        
occasion by the king of ,rome to        
,anushirwan and on another  occasion by 
the king of ,rome to another emperor of 
,persia4    #aa4 ,the #aath book refers 
to the order of ,ardeshir to bring out  
from the  treasury books written by     
,wisemen on ,government4    #ab4 ,the   
#abth book was written for ,hormaz1 son 
of ,kisra1 i4e41 ,kisra  ,anushirwan on 
the correspondence between a certain    
,kisra and  ,jamasp4#a    ,footnote #a3 
,are we to understand under this name a 

reference to the  well-known ,jamasp    
,hakim occurring in ,pahlavi literature 
7,weat1 #aaj78    ,on the ,persian      
wisdom of ,jamasp1 see ,c4,h4,l4 ,flise1
 cher ,kleinere  ,schriften #c ,leipzig1
 #ahhh1 #bed-bee1 and ,justi ,namenbuch1
 #aji4    ,the name1 however1 cannot be 
clearly read1 ,hadahud 7see ,fihrist1   
#caf1  #ac7 where instead of ,mardyud   
should be read ,mardwaihi4 ,in the same 
book  #afb1 #f1 instead of ,zaydyud     
should be read ,zaiduya4 ,as regards the
 name  ,hadahud generally1 see ,justi1  
#agg1 who mentions a son of ,farrukhzad4
    #ac4 ,the #acth book is attributed  
to a certain ,kisra and it is added that
  it treated of gratitude and was       
written for the benefit of the public4  
#ad4 ,finally1 the #adth heading        
referred no doubt to one of those       
,persian  books written by ,persians    
bearing ,persian names and embodying    
various  stories and anecdotes4    ,of  
the remaining #cj books1 #aa belong to  
the ,moslem period but were  composed at

 the time of complete ,persian influence
 on ,arabic literature4  ,we have three 
books on ,adab written for ,khalif      
,mahdi1 ,rashid and for the  ,barmecide 
,yahya ibn ,khalid4 ,then there are nine
 books by authors who are  partly       
unknown and partly belong to the same   
period of ,persian influence  and who   
have been mentioned in other places in  
the ,fihrist4    ,of the remaining #ai  
books a considerable number is to be    
found to have  issued from ,persian     
sources4 ,of ,persian origin probably   
were two books  translated by the       
aforesaid ,mihr ,adur ,jushnasp--one    
relating to ',adab'  and the other on   
'house-building4'    ,the book on the   
refutation of the ,zendiks by an unknown
 author was  probably derived from      
,parsi circles4 ,for1 especially in the 
reign of  ,mamun there existed various  
controversies with the followers of     
,mazdaism  and ,dualists4#a    ,footnote
 #a3 ,a4 ,barthelmy1 ,gujastak ,abalish4
 ,rlation d'une ,confrence  ,thologique1

 preside par le ,calife ,mamoun1 ,paris1
 #ahhg4 7,bibliotheque  de l'cole des   
hautes tudes1 sciences philologiques et 
historiques1  ,,lxix41 fascicule47      
,further1 undoubtedly under ,persian    
books must be reckoned the book of  the 
',counsels' of ancient kings and the    
book of the ',questions' to  certain    
,wisemen1 and their ,answers4 ,if these 
are not of direct ,persian  origin they 
are similar in contents to ,persian     
books4 ,two books included  in this     
list1 namely1 one by a certain          
,christian on ethico-didactical         
subjects as is stated in the title      
itself1 drawn from ,persian1 ,greek and 
,arabic sources1 and the other1 a book  
translated by the author of the         
,fihrist himself containing the         
anecdotes regarding the people of a     
superior class and of the middle        
class--these two books on account of    
their contents embody the experiences   
relating to ethico-didactical  questions
 and were of the nature of compilation  

similar to the book of  ,ibn ,miskawaihi
 of whom we shall speak later on4       
,finally1 all the  remaining books      
relate to that class of anecdotal and   
didactic  literature which spread so    
wide among ,arabic writers through      
,pahlavi and  originating from ,indian  
authors4 ,such books were1 for instance1
 the  story of ,despair and ,hope1 the  
,book of ,hearing and ,judgment1 the    
,book of  the two ,indians1 a liberal   
man and a miser1 their disputation1 and 
the  judgment passed on them by the     
,indian prince1 etc4 ,that our          
assumption  is highly probable is       
confirmed by the mention among these    
books of the  book of the philosopher   
and his experiences with the slave girl 
,kaytar4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,this book  
no doubt is a portion of the well-known 
fable ,lai  d'--,aristote preserved in  
certain ancient monuments of ,arabic    
literature4 ,the same book is mentioned 
among ,persian books in another  place  
in the ,fihrist4 7#cje-f74 ,kitab ,musk 

,zanameh1 wa shah ,zanan4  ,these two   
books have been variously transcribed by
 the copyists4    ,the name has been    
much mutilated and serves as an example 
of the degree  to which ,persian titles 
have been corrupted4 ,nevertheless1     
thanks to the  circumstance that the    
name of the slave girl has come down to 
us1 in the  ,arabic version of the story
 we are able to trace the title adduced 
in  the ,fihrist4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,le
 ,livre des beautes et des antithesis   
attribute a ,abu  ,othman ,amr ibn ,bahr
 al-,djahiz texte publie par ,g4 ,van   
,vloten1 ,leyde1  #ahih1 #bbe-beg2 ,e4  
,g41 ,browne1 some account of the       
,arabic work entitled  ,nihayatu'l-irab 
fi ,akhbari'l ,furs wa'l-,arab1         
particularly of that part  which treats 
of the ,persian kings1 ,j4,r4,a4,s4     
7#ijj1 #bdc-bde74    ,this name is      
,mushk ,daneh or a grain of ,musk4 ,the 
book of ,musk ,daneh and  the mobed     
became famous in ,arabic literature as a
 separate ,persian  composition4#b      

,footnote #b3 ,similarly the title      
,shahzanan in the ,fihrist is possibly  
,mobedan1 7,see ,browne #bdd1 #b1 #c1   
#aa1 #ae2 #bde1 #d1 #ae2 and ,van       
,vloten #bee1  #af2 #bef1 #a1 #d1 #ad2  
#beg1 #g1 #i2 or ,shaikh al mobedan1    
,browne #bde47          ,,chapter ,,iv  
,the ,persian1 sources of the           
compilation of ,ibn ,miskawaihi #ed     
,preponderance of the ,persian element  
in the evolution of the ,musalman       
morals #eg    ,the ,book of ,adab by    
,ibn al ,muqaffa and other similar      
,arabic works #ei      ,,iranian        
,,components ,,of ,,adab ,,literature   
,,in ,,arabic    ,at the head of works  
under the title of ethico didactic      
writings1 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 
#ajth and  #aath centuries1 ,ibn        
,miskawaihi whose name is pronounced in 
,persian ,ibn  ,mushkuya4 ,at the basis 
of this collection lies the ancient     

,persian  pseudepigraphical book        
,javidan khired1 or ,eternal wisdom4    
,but in the  body of it there is a      
series of literary monuments of         
,sasanian  literature and its           
descendants4#a ,the author is known1    
besides1 by his  philosophical works1 as
 a historian#b and as such he is        
particularly  important for the history 
of the ,buides4#c ,and his ,persian     
origin would  point to his sympathy for 
,persian literary tradition4 ,as a      
matter of  fact1 his ethico-didactic    
collection is based on a book of the    
,sasanian  epoch4 ,it would appear that 
this circumstance has undoubted         
significance  for the determination of  
the influence in the compilation of     
,moslem  ethical ideals4 ,however1 in   
contradiction to this basal fact and    
notwithstanding that in the province of 
the development of ,islam as a          
religion1 ,persian element played an    
important part1#d the development  of   
the ,moslem ethical tracts in           

contemporary literature1 for the most   
part1 is dependent upon more antique1   
specially ,greek1 tradition4 ,j4        
,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 facts1 whose         
consequences they are1 would be  the    
most interesting task which those       
studying ,islam in its present  position
 can place before themselves4 ,many of  
the dominating views  regarding the     
original spirit of ,islam would receive 
the needed  correction by such          
investigation4    ,footnote #a3 ,on this
 work and its manuscripts see my        
,material from ,arab  sources #fh-fi4   
,footnote #b3 ,for ,miskawaihi as a     
philosopher see ,boer #aaf-aai4         
,footnote #c3--;,he was the treasurer   
and a close friend of the ,buide        
,adudad-,daula4    ,footnote #d3 ,for a 
general sketch of ,moslem ethics in     
ancient times see  ,carra de ,vaux1     

,gazali1 #abi-adb1 and ,encyclopaedia of
 ,islam #d1  #bdd-bdf4    ,let us       
examine three points regarding the      
influence on ,moslem morals and  general
 conduct4 ,in the first place stand the 
moral writings of  ecclesiastical       
character4 ,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 ,christianity4
 ,in the  second place1 there is a      
series of ethical documents of a most   
valued  nature in the shape of proverbs1
 dicta1 maxims1 fables1 constituting a  
kind of moral philosophy1 often         
independent of each other1 varied in    
their character1 and different as to    
time and the place of their             
compositions4 ,here we may separate a   
certain stratum of ,persian element1    
and an analysis of them may reveal      
partly contemporary knowledge and       
partly elements of foreign religious    
ethics4 ,the third but not the last     

place in importance is occupied by the  
,greek ethical tradition in which       
latterly are discernible important      
,christian constituents4 ,recent        
studies have yielded us as their result1
 this structure of ,musalman  ethics4   
,but it is to be noted that the         
theoretical deductions at first  sight  
do not find confirmation in facts4 ,for 
we do not know which ,greek  books on   
ethics were translated in the beginning 
of the period of the  scientific        
development of ,islam1 and for the      
support of our thesis we  have to point 
to the possibility of oral transmission 
of ,hellenic  ethical tradition through 
,syriac scholars1 although this         
circumstance  does not militate against 
our hypothesis4 ,besides a small amount 
of  translations from ,greek ethical    
works1 especially the books of          
,aristotle1 there are observed among the
 works embodied in this tradition  a    
series of pseudographs which1 however1  
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 namely1 the  group of         
monuments of ,oriental wisdom4 ,the most
 typical of the  pseudographical wisaya1
 or ,testaments are ascribed to         
,aristotle1  ,pythagoras1 and others4   
,to our mind1 they are derived from     
,persian  tradition to the same extent1 
if not in a larger extent than from the 
,christian4 ,actual studies demonstrate 
that the basal work for this epoch  was 
the book above-mentioned of ,ibn        
,miskawaihi which as we saw above1      
issued from ,persian literary tradition4
 ,and the character of that  tradition  
can be explained from exterior          
circumstances without an  analysis of   
its contents4 ,the fact is that ,ibn    
,miskawaihi worked upon  that class of  
,persian material1 for instance the     
,pand ,nameh or  ,andarz1 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 morals1 the morals of        
,parsism4#a ,the appreciation of the    
influence of ,parsism on ,islam has     
only just commenced4 ,but we are already
 in a position to emphasise the  great  
influence1 which ,parsi ethics have     
exercised on ,islam and this  influence 
has been attested by a number of ,greek 
and ,christian  witnesses4 ,so far1 for 
an acknowledgment of this influence     
serves a  purely external fact1 namely1 
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    
,muskawaihi4 ,a number of  additional   
facts confirm this hypothesis4          
,footnote #a3 ,for a general review of  
the morals of ,parsism see ,a4,v4,w4    
,jackson's ,g4 ,i4 ,ph4 ,vol4 ,,ii1     
#fgh-fhc4    ,well-known is the         
importance enjoyed in the beginning of  
the epoch of  the development of the    

,arabic ,musalman literature1 by the    
activities of  the ,parsi ,ibn al       
,muqaffa4#a ,he is famous as the first  
commentator of  the ,greek books on     
logic in ,arabic literature1 but he is  
particularly  renowned as the efficient 
supporter of the ,persian literary      
tradition  and its translator into the  
,arabic literature4 ,his rendering of   
,kalila  and ,dimma is well-known4 ,it  
enjoys a prime role in the migration of 
this collection of stories to the ,west4
 ,well-known also is his  translation of
 the ,persian book of ,khoday           
,nameh1--that is1 the  official         
chronicle of the ,sasanian times and of 
the ,ain ,nameh1 the  ,institutes of the
 time4 ,we shall have occasion to speak 
about these  books later on4 ,to him    
also belong the books closely connected 
with the  ,sasanian epoch1 namely1 the  
,book of ,mazdak the ,book of ,taj to   
which  we shall refer further on4 ,it is
 interesting that he is also the reputed
  author of two books on ,adab1 perhaps 

among the most ancient ones in  ,arabic 
literature4#b ,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 ,jushnas4 7,this is how the  
title is to be read  according to       
,hoffmann and ,justi74#c ,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 motifs4 ,this is proved by 
a variety of circumstances4 ,we have    
descended to us his book called ,al     
,yatima1 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             
,furstenspiegel4#d ,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 ,nameh1 
of  ,nizam-ulmulk1 the ,saljuk ,wazir4  
,on some occasions it directly serves as
  a source for the internal history of  
the ,sasanian domination4 ,it bears     
particularly on didactic literature     
though it has been as yet very ill      
studied from the comparative standpoint4
 ,the ,sasanian influence is  perfectly 
obvious4 ,some portions of ,al ,yatima  
of ,ibn ,muqaffa may be  parallelled to 
corresponding remnants from ,pahlavi    
literature in the  ,kabus ,nameh and the
 ,siasat ,nameh4#e ,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     
society4#f ,these  books by their       
character were comparable to books on   
,mazdak but also to  ,kalila wa ,dimna4 
,footnote #a3 ,fihrist1 #aah1 #ah-bi1   
and ,ibn al ,qifti's ,tarkh al hukama   
edited by ,lippert1 page #bbj1 #a-aj4   

,footnote #b3 ,brockelmann1 ,on the     
rhetorical writings of ,ibn all         
,mukaffa1  ,z4,d4,m4,g4 #ec1 #bca-cb4   
,footnote #c3 ,hoffmann ,extracts from  
,syrian acts of ,persian martyrs1  #ahhj
 page #bhi note1 and ,justi1 ,namenbuch 
#ahf4    ,footnote #d3 ,precise         
information regarding its contents is   
rather to be  found in ,ibn al ,qifti   
than in the ,fihrist4 ,in the former the
 heading  is ,fi taat us ,sultan1 in the
 latter ,fi rasail4 ,see ,la perle      
incomparable ou l'art du parfait        
courtisane de ,abdallah ibn al-,muqaffa1
  #aijf4 ,see the ,french translation   
from the ,dutch rendering of this       
tract4    ,footnote #e3 ,on the         
political ideas of the latter see       
,pizzi1 ,le idee  politiche di          
,nizam-ul-,mulk ,g4,s4,a4 #a41 #aca-ada4
    ,footnote #f3 ,tabari ,annales ,vol4
 #c1 #acji1 #i-ae1 and ,browne ,a       
literary  ,history of ,persia1 #a1 #ccb4
    ,besides ,muqaffa a number of       
writers of the epoch of the development 

of  ,arabic ,musalman literature        
interested themselves in themes         
connected  with ,persian antiquities4   
,one of them1 ,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
 7#aai1  #a-f-afc1 #g-aj74 ,such        
subjects were--,kalila and ,dimna1 the  
,book of  ,barlaam and ,yuasef1 the     
,book of ,sindbad1 the ,book of ,mazdak 
and  finally books on two popular       
representative of the ,sasanian dynasty1
  namely1 the ,book of the acts of      
,ardasher and the ,book of the acts of  
,anushirvan4#a    ,footnote #a3         
,versification of the history of        
,anushirvan is also to be  met with in  
later ,parsi literature1 see1 ,sachau1  
,contribution to the  knowledge of the  
,parsi literature1 ,j4,r4,a4,s4 #ahgj   
page #beh4    ,another author1 ,ahmed   
,ibn ,tahir ,taifur1 wrote according the
 ,fihrist  7#adf1 #ba7 a special ,book  

of ,hormuz son of ,kisra ,anushirvan4#a 
,no doubt1  further more1 writers of    
,persian origin followed in their books 
on  ,adab ,persian models4 ,such        
probably was the book of ,adab by an    
author  whose name has been mutilated in
 the ,fihrist 7#aci1 #ae1 #ah74 ,there  
is  another class of writings which     
bears relation to this one and which is 
mentioned in the ,fihrist4 ,it is quite 
possible that on this literary  ,persian
 tradition1 were based also some of the 
tracts under the title of  ,books on    
counsels a considerable number of which 
we meet with in the  ,fihrist4#b        
,footnote #a3 ,see the essay of ,baron  
,rosen on the anthology of ,ahmed ,ibn  
,abi ,tahir4    ,footnote #b3 #gh1 #ae2 
#aje1 #aj2 #bic1 #ab2 #bjd1 #ag-ah2     
#bjd1 #bi2 #bjg1 #ba2  #baj1 #bc2 #bab1 
#bb-bc2 #bag1 #d-e2 #bbj1 #be2 #bbb1    
#ad2 #bcd1 #bc2 #bha1 #bj2 #bhb1  #e4   
,ethico-didactical treatises in the form
 of counsels1 maxima or  testaments1    
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  times4 ,examples of a like   
class of testaments1 literary           
compilations  under the title1 for the  
most part1 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 ,anushirvan4          ,,chapter  
,v    ,the ,taj ,nameh as mentioned in  
the ,fihrist page #cje1 and page #aah1  
and  repeatedly referred to in the      
,uyunal ,akhbar1 ,part ,i1 of ,ibn      
,kutayba #fe    ,the ,persian book with 
illustrations mentioned by ,masudi in   
his ,kitab at  ,tambih1 page #ajf-g and 
the illustrations in the scrolls in the 
castle  of ,shiz #fh      ,,pahlavi     
,,books ,,studied ,,by ,,arab ,,authors4
    ,we have indicated in the preceding 
chapter the translations of ,ibn al     
,muqaffa from ,persian books into       

,arabic4 ,besides those of an           
ethico-didactic contents1 among them    
there were books of historical          
character4 ,all these translations have 
not come down to us4 ,extracts of  these
 renderings into ,arabic1 however1 have 
been preserved in the  original and     
sometimes in paraphrase4 ,unusually     
important was the  translation of the   
book called the ,khuday ,nameh1 the     
value of which  has long been           
appreciated by science4 ,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  
period4 ,the  loss of this book1 perhaps
 the most important monument of ,middle 
,persian  literature1 is to be          
particularly deplored in that with it   
has perished  the connecting link of the
 historical evolution of ,iran1         
incorporating  the religious and        
clerical legislature in an official     
redaction4 ,of  capital importance also 

was another book called the ,ain        
,nameh#a or the  ,book of ,institutes1 a
 valuable source of the internal history
 of the  ,sasanian ,empire1 comprising a
 descriptive table of official          
dignitaries  or the ,gah ,nameh4#b      
,judging by the clue given in the       
,fihrist 7#aah1bh7  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        
,anushirwan4  ,as a matter of fact1     
among the books written by the ,persians
 on epic and  historical subjects and   
indexed in the same ,fihrist 7#cje1     
#h-ac7 has been  mentioned the ,book of 
,taj4#c    ,footnote #a3 ,see below and 
also my book on ,the ,materials from    
,arabic  sources1 c41 #fc-ff4 ,like     
,masudi in his ,kitab at ,tambih1 ,asadi
 in  his ,lughal al-,furs 7,asadi's     
neupersischen ,worterbuch ,lughat       
al-,furs1  edited by ,p4 ,horn1 #ahig1  
#aaj1 #a71 identifies the word ain with 
the  word rasam1 practice or custom4 ,as

 regards the word ain in the  ,iranian  
languages see ,horn ,grundriss der neu  
persischen ,etymologie1  #ae-af2        
,hubschmann1 ,persische ,studien #aa1   
and ,b4,g4,a4 ,,iv1 #age1 and ,,viii1   
,glossarium ,,ix4 ,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 us4 ,in this phrase the word dad  
corresponds to the modern  ,musalman    
shariyat and the word ain to adat4      
,regarding its special  meaning in the  
,umayyad times see ,j4 ,wellhausen ,das 
,arabische ,reich und  sein ,sturz #ahi4
    ,footnote #b3 ,most probably in     
connection with the materials of this   
book  stood ,a collection of ,persian   
genealogy written by the well-known ,ibn
  ,khurdadbeh 7,fihrist #adi1 #d71      
representing a peculiar antithesis to   
the  numerous selections of ,arab tribal
 and family genealogies4    ,footnote   
#c3 ,here are first mentioned the two   
books translated by ,jabala  ibn ,salim1

 namely1 the ,book of ,rustam and       
,isfandiyar and the ,book of  ,behram   
,chobin 7the well-known ,romance of the 
,king about which1 sea  ,noeldeke's     
,tabari #dgd-dgh71 and further the ,book
 of ,shahrzad and  ,aberviz 7which no   
doubt was connected with the ,thousand  
and one  ,nights71 the ,book of ,kar    
,nameh or the ,acts of ,anushirwan      
belonging  to the same class of books as
 the ,kar ,nameh of ,ardashir4 ,then the
  books that interest us are the ,book  
of ,taj1 the ,book of ,dara and the     
,golden ,idol1 the ,ain ,nameh1 the     
,book of ,behramgor and his brother     
,narseh and finally1 one more ,book of  
,anushirwan4    ,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 works4 7,for  example1
 ,abu ,ubaida1 ,see ,goldziher ,muhammed
 ,studien #a1aih74    ,in his time      
,baron ,rosen called attention to       

quotations from a certain  ,book of ,taj
 in ,uyunal ,akhbar of ,ibn ,qutaiba4#a 
,these quotations are  only to be found 
in the first part of the ,uyunal        
,akhbar4 ,all these  quotations1 eight  
in number1 bear a didactic character1   
and excepting  three1 refer back to     
,kisra ,abarviz and contain his         
testament to his sons  7two71           
secretaries1 treasurers and hajibs4 ,of 
the remaining three one  bears on       
general maxims of practical politics4   
,another is a testament of  an ancient  
,persian king to his ,wazir4 ,and the   
third is a maxim of one of  the         
secretaries of a king4 ,in this manner  
all these citations are of an           
ethicodidactic nature2 only they have   
been invested with a historical         
environment and under ordinary          
circumstances would represent the       
general  type of writings on political  
conduct for rulers1 standing for the    
class  of literature designated         
,furstenspiegel4 ,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 
,persia1 as also in the ,shah  ,nameh4  
,footnote #a3 ,baron ,rosen1 ,zur       
arabischen ,literatur geschichte der    
altern  zeit1 #a4 ,ibn ,qutaiba2 ,kitab 
,uyunal ,akhbar 7,melanges ,asiatiques1 
,,viii1  #ahhj1 #gde-ggi1 especially    
#ggd-gge74 ,these citations correspond  
to those  in the edition of ,brockelmann
 as follows3 #ba1 #ab-af2 #bg1 #aa-ae2  
#cb1 #b-h2  #dd1 #ac-de1 #d2 #fg1       
#ac-ff1 #h2 #hd1 #h-af2 #ajg1 #b-ag2    
#abj1 #af-aba1 #e4    ,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 language4#a ,let us   
add that1 as we showed above1  there has
 been preserved a similar class of      
,books of ,counsels1 the  reputed author
 of which is ,anoshiravan4 ,the putative
 dicta of the other  ,sasanian kings    
,gutschmid considered as fabricated     
being designed to be  brief             
characterisations of each of them4      
,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#b and which  was seen  
by ,masudi4#c ,according to the         
information supplied us by the  latter  
7,masudi7 he saw this book in ,istakhr  
in an aristocratic ,persian  family1 and
 that it included1 besides information  
of a scientific  character1 the history 
of the ,persian kings and their reigns  
and a  description of the monuments     
erected by them4#d ,in the book were the
  portraits of the ,sasanians and it was

 based on the documents found in  the   
royal archives4 ,and the portraits also 
were prepared from the  materials       
deposited there4 ,the book was completed
 in ,a4,h4 #aac 7,a4,d4  #gca71 and it  
was translated for the ,khalif ,hisham  
from the ,persian into  the ,arabic     
language4    ,footnote #a3 ,gutschmid1  
,kleine schriften1 ,,iii1 #ce-cf4       
,footnote #b3 ,about this book see      
,gutschmid1 ,,iii1 #aej-aea4            
,footnote #c3 ,b4,g4,a4 ,,viii1 #ajf1   
#e-ajg1 #e4 ,translation by ,carra de   
,vaux  #aej-aea4 ,see ,christensen      
#ij-ia4    ,footnote #d3 ,gutschmid     
#aej1 #aea4    ,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 kings4 ,it is
 highly  probable that for the          
reproduction of these portraits of the  
sovereigns  the authors were guided as  
much by the bas-reliefs1 not far from   

this  castle1 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 archives4#a    
,along with the literary tradition      
there must have survived the artistic   
tradition4 ,it is highly probable  that 
the peculiar ,persian art of            
illuminating manuscripts which was yet  
unknown according to ,masudi in his own 
time1--the embellishing of books  with  
gold1 silver1 and copper dust was       
practised by the ,manichians whose      
calligraphy#b 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#c and 
which at an earlier period were widely  
desseminated among the ,parsi circles4  
,footnote #a3 ,connected with ancient   
tradition1 but dependant upon modern    
science1 are the portraits of the       

,sasanian kings in the recently         
published ,nameh ,khusrawan1 ,tehran    
#abhe1 7,a4,d4 #ahfh74    ,footnote #b3 
,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 ,avesta1 which is 
reported to have been  inscribed by     
,zoroaster in gold ink on parchment and 
also writings in  gold ink of certain   
ancient ,persian books4 ,according to   
the ,zafar  ,nameh1 ,anushirwan directed
 that the maxims of ,buzurjamihr should 
be  written down in golden              
water1--7ba-abizar74 ,from early        
,sasanians also  comes the custom of    
writing on valuable parchment or paper4 
,masudi  speaks of the purple ink of    
these books4    ,footnote #c3 ,see      
,browne1 ,a ,literary ,history1 ,i1     
#afe-aff4    ,now we revert to the      
supposition of ,gutschmid4 ,had he known
 the  quotations from the ,book of ,taj 
in ,uyunal ,akhbar he would have        

adduced them in confirmation of his     
hypothesis1 and he would have  compared 
the book mentioned by ,masudi with the  
,book of ,taj referred to  among the    
,persian books enumerated in the        
,fihrist4 ,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    
,nameh4 ,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 akhbar4
 ,the materials at our disposal are too 
scanty to  establish its relation with  
the ,sasanian ,book of ,taj4#a          
,footnote #a3 ,the supposition          
7,zotenberg1 ,thaalibi ,,xli17 according
 to  which ,firdausi saw an illustrated 
,book of ,kings rests on a              

misunderstanding4 ,the fact is that     
certain verses have been incorrectly    
translated by ,mohl 7,,iv1 #gjj-gja1    
,verses #djga-djge74    ,mohl translated
 the passage as follows3 ,there was an  
aged man named  ,azad ,serw who lived at
 ,merv in the house of ,ahmad son of    
,sahl2 he  possessed a book of kings in 
which were to be found the portraits and
  figures of the ,pehlwans4 ,he was a   
man with a heart replete with wisdom    
and a head full of eloquence1 and a     
tongue nourished with ancient           
tradition2 he traced his origin to ,sam1
 son of ,nariman1 and he knew well  the 
affairs regarding the fights of ,rustam4
    ,a more correct translation would   
be3 ,there was a certain old man by     
name of ,azad ,serw living in ,merv with
 ,ahmad son of ,sahl4 ,he had a ,book   
of ,kings4 ,in figure and face he was a 
warrior2 his heart was full of  wisdom1 
his head full of eloquence1 and in his  
mouth there ever were  stories of the   
ancient times4 ,he traced his origin    

back to ,sam1 son of  ,nariman1 and     
preserved in his memory many a tale of  
the battles of  ,rustam4                
,,chapter ,,vi    ,the list of the      
translators from ,persian into ,arabic  
as given in the  ,fihrist1 7#bdd1       
#be-bde1 #f7 #ge    ,the different      
categories of these translators    ,omar
 ibn al ,farrukhan of ,tabaristan       
7,fihrist #bgc1 #ad-ah7 and his ,kitab  
al ,mahasin #gi    ,other authors of    
books of analogous titles in the first  
centuries of  ,islam1--the relation of  
these books to the books of ,virtues and
  ,vices 7cf4 ,baihaqi1 pseudo-,jahiz7  
and the connection of these books  with 
the ,parsi religious idea of the licit  
and the illicit1--,al ,mahasin  wal     
,masavi1 and the ,shayast la ,shayast4  
#hc      ,,translators ,,from ,,pahlavi4
    ,in the ,fihrist 7#bdd1 #be-bde1 #f7
 are stated a number of names of the    
principal translators from the ,persian 
into the ,arabic language4  ,assuredly  
this list is far from complete4 ,the    

author names only a few  calling        
attention to only particular            
translators4 ,the passage in  question  
in the ,fihrist has been more than once 
utilised4 ,the entire  section has not  
been exhaustively examined4 ,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 names4    ,to examine the list  
of translators in order4 ,first of all  
as may be  expected is mentioned ,ibn al
 ,muqaffa about whom the ,fihrist speaks
 in  detail at another place4 ,then     
follow the family of ,naubakht2 ,musa   
and  ,yusuf1 the sons of ,khalid2 ,abul 
,hasan ,ali ibn ,zyad at ,tamimi--of his
  principal translations is mentioned   
the ,tables of ,shahriyar2 ,hasan ibn   
,sahal mentioned at the head of         
astronomers2 ,balazuri2 ,jabala ibn     
,salem1  secretary of ,hisham2 ,ishak   
ibn ,yazid1 translator of the ,persian  

history  entitled ,khuday ,nameh2       
,muhammad ibn al ,jahm al ,barmaki2     
,hisham ibn al  ,kasim2 ,musa ibn ,isa  
al ,kisravi2 ,zaduya ibn ,shahuya al    
,isfahani2 ,muhammad  ibn ,behram al    
,isfahani2 ,behram ibn ,mardanshah1     
,mobed mobedan of the ,city  of ,sabur  
in ,fars2 ,umar ibn al ,farrukhan of    
whom special mention is made  by the    
author of the ,fihrist4    ,an          
examination of the aforesaid names of   
translators in order would1 it  seems to
 us1 afford material for the solution of
 the problem regarding  the different   
varieties of ,persian literary tradition
 in the first  centuries of ,islam4 ,ibn
 al ,muqaffa stands in the first place  
belonging  to him by right4 ,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 literature4 ,he translated          
scientific1  epico-historical1 and      
ethico-didactic books4 ,hence we can    

understand  that in the ,fihrist has    
been assigned to him a special notice as
 noted  by us above4    ,the family of  
,naubakht1 mentioned next1 represents a 
group of scholars  mentioned separately 
in the ,fihrist4#a ,the head of the     
,naubakhts1 was  an astronomer to the   
,khalif ,mansur and his son ,abu ,sahl  
succeeded to his  father's occupation4  
,the grandsons of ,naubakht wrote books 
on astronomy  as well as jurisprudence4 
,persian literary tradition is earliest 
recognised in the astronomical works of 
the grandsons of ,naubakht4 ,the  author
 of the ,fihrist places this ,hasan ibn 
,sahl1 as already indicated  by ,flugel1
 at the head of astronomers4 ,and the   
same scientific character  no doubt was 
attached to the activities of ,musa and 
,yusuf1#b the sons  of ,khalid mentioned
 there as well as at ,tamimi1 the author
 of the  astronomical tables ,zichash   
,shahriyar4 ,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         
,arabic4    ,footnote #a3 #agf1 #bj-agg1
 #i2 #agg1 #i-ai2 #bgd1 #g-ac2 #bge1    
#be-f4 ,see ,ibn al  ,kifti #afe1 #a-e  
and #dji1 #c-ad4    ,footnote #b3 ,see  
,ibn al ,kifti1 #agaa1 #aj-aa4          
,balazuri and ,jabala ibn ,salem have   
already been mentioned above4 ,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 ,chobin4 ,in this way the themes
 handled by these writers may be  called
 epico-historical and ethico-didactic4  
,purely historical questions  interested
 the seven succeeding translators from  
,ishaq ibn ,yazid to  ,mobed ,behram4   
,these persons are sufficiently known in
 their special  departments of          
literature4 ,they were the translators  
into the ,arabic  language of the       
,khuday ,nameh4#a ,accordingly we may   
group them in a  class by themselves4   

,footnote #a3 ,compare the essay of     
,rosen mentioned above ,on the  question
 of the ,arabic translations of the     
,khuday ,nameh1 #agc-agf1 and  #ahb-ahf4
    ,the next author mentioned at this  
place in the ,fihrist as a translator   
stands by himself1--,umar ibn al        
,farrukhan4 ,he is altogether unknown as
 a  translator of historical works4     
,hence he was not included in the group 
of persons mentioned before4 ,on the    
other hand1 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 books1 
that is1 after ,ibn  ,muqaffa and in the
 midst of the descendants of ,naubakht  
and other  persons mentioned above4     
,therefore we think that ,umar ibn      
,farrukhan was  a translator of another 
species of work or1 may be1 works4 ,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  ,arabic4
    ,besides this place in the ,fihrist1
 ,umar ibn ,farrukhan of ,tabaristan has
  been mentioned in two other places4   
,once briefly1#a 7#bfh1 #be-bf7 as the  
annotator of the astronomical book of   
,dorotheya ,sidonia and in another      
place 7#bgg1 #ad-ah7 in a few lines#b   
specially devoted to him4 ,here he  is  
mentioned as the annotator of ,ptolemy  
as translated by ,batrik ,yahuya  ibn al
 ,batrik and as the author of two books1
 one of astronomical  contents and the  
other entitled ,kitab al ,mahasin1 that 
is the book of  good qualities and      
manners4#c ,this latter book demands a  
few lines from  us4    ,footnote #a3    
,ibn al ,qifti #ahd1 #i--aj4            
,footnote #b3 ,ibn al ,kifti #bda1      
#bj-bdb1 #ab4 7,this has been pointed   
out in  the ,fihrist ,vol4 ,,ii1        
#aaj-aaa1 and in ,,zdmg ,,xxv1 #ahga1   

#dac--dae47 ,further  mention of him in 
the same book #ih1 #i and #ahd1 #aj4    
,footnote #c3 ,an account of the        
literary activity of this author was    
given in the work of ,h4 ,suter1 ,die   
,mathematiker und ,astronomen der       
,araber und ihre ,werke1 ,abhandiungen  
,zur ,geschichte der mathematischer     
,wissenschaften ,supplement zum1 #de    
,jahrgang der ,zeitschrift fur          
,mathematik und ,physik1 ,leipzig1      
#aijj1 #g-h4 ,haji ,khalfa cites only   
the  astrological books of ,omar ,ibn   
,farrukhan ,i1 #aih and ,v1 #ce1 #chf4  
,see also  ,justi ,namenbuch #ie1 ,nos4 
#ae and #ai4    ,umar ibn ,farrukhan is 
mentioned in the section of books on    
astronomy1  mathematics1 physics1       
mechanics1 and music4 ,in this group are
 mentioned  a number of writers who     
composed works on these sciences1       
beginning with  ,euclid and ending with 
the contemporary authors of an-,nadhin4 
,in the  midst of them1 an-,nadhin has  
also mentioned the grandsons of         

,naubakht4  ,not one of them wrote any  
,kitab al ,mahasin which appears1       
therefore1  to be the independent work  
of ,umar ibn ,farrukhan4 ,this book1    
further1  could not have been of a      
scientific astronomical1 or mathematical
 nature  as is obvious from its         
subject-matter which related to good    
manners and  conduct4 ,this book has    
been mentioned in this group only       
because here  are enumerated the works  
of ,umar ibn ,farrukhan4 ,and good      
manners and  conduct constituted1 as we 
saw above1 a favourite theme of ,parsi  
literature3 wherefor the book heads the 
list4 ,similar to it are the  contents  
not only of ,andarzes and ,pand ,namehs 
but of a series of  tracts on religious 
subjects4 ,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    

speciality4 ,for he was the solitary    
representative of his category of       
translators of ethicodidactic books     
intimately connected with the  problems 
of the ,paris religion4 ,possibly ,umar 
ibn ,farrukhan was the  first to        
introduce this species of literature    
into ,arabic1 and we must  add1 employed
 for his material as well as ideas      
,parsi tracts4 ,originally  from        
,tabaristan1 he1 in the words of ,ibn al
 ,qifti1 was introduced to ,abu         
,maashar al ,balkhi1 stood well with    
,jaffer the ,barmecide1 and             
subsequently with ,fazl ibn ,sahl1 the  
,wazir who recommended him to his       
sovereign al-,mamum4 ,and for this      
,khalif ,mamun he prepared a number of  
translations4 ,the sympathy of these    
persons for the ,persian literary       
tradition could not have been confined  
to the translation of scientific  works1
 but must have extended to the          
preservation of ,persian                
ethico-didactic tradition in literature4

    ,books with the title of ,kitab al  
,mahasin are to be met with in the      
,fihrist1 if not often1 several times4  
,a book with this title 7#gg1 #ba7  has 
been ascribed to the celebrated ,ibn    
,qutaiba4 ,it was composed  doubtless   
after the book of ,umar ibn ,farrukhan1 
for ,qutaiba flourished  at the close of
 the reign of ,mamun and his literary   
activities could be  referred to the    
ninth century4 ,qutaiba undoubtedly     
interested himself in  ,persian literary
 materials4 ,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        
,farrukhan4 ,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   
7#aie1 #aj7 and ,abu ,abdullah ,muhammad
 ibn ,khallid  al ,barki who wrote      
,kitab al ,mahasin 7#bbac-d1 also #g-i74

 ,and the  interest of ,shia authors in 
,persian tradition was unquestionable4  
,a book  with the same title of ,kitab  
al ,mahasin is ascribed to a certain    
,ibn  al ,harun1 7#adh1 #ag7 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
 ,adab4 ,now the discussion of ,adab as 
we said above is  intimately connected  
with ,persian tradition4 ,and this      
tradition probably  survived in the     
books which had for their theme the good
 qualities of  ,adab4#a ,we believe that
 all these books were devoted to        
,persian  literary tradition1 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 ,tabaristan1 ,umar ibn al      
,farrukhan4    ,footnote #a3 ,for       
instance1 ,mahasin al ,adab of          
,ispahani1 see  ,brockelmann1           
,geschichte der ,arabischen ,litterature

 ,i4 #cea4    ,co-related with these    
books on good qualities stand1 in our   
opinion1  the books on good morals and  
their opposite1 or goodness and         
wickedness1 ,kutub al ,mahasin wal      
,azdad1 or ,kutub al ,mahasin wal       
,masawi4 ,although in the ,fihrist we do
 not come across books with this  title1
 we have a book so named from the       
beginning of the tenth century  whose   
author was ,ibrahim ibn ,muhammad al    
,baihaki4#a ,under the title of  ,kitab 
al ,mahasin wal ,azdad we likewise      
possess a work ascribed to  ,jahiz4#b   
,both these books evidently go to a     
common origin4#c ,it is  quite possible 
that antithesis was originally not      
excluded from these  ,kutub al-,mahasin1
 from which were developed a special    
species of  educative treatises1--those 
on good qualities and their opposites4  
,continuing our comparison with the     
,parsi literature1 we notice that a     
similar kind of antithesis is most      
commonly employed there4    ,footnote   

#a3 ,ibrahim ibn ,muhammad al ,baihaki1 
,kitab al-,mahasin val  masavi1         
herausgegeben von ,dr4 ,f4 ,schwally1   
,geissen #aijb4    ,footnote #b3 ,le    
livre des beautes et des antithesis     
attribue a ,abu  ,othman ,amr ibn ,bahr 
al-,djakiz1 texte arabe publie par ,g4  
,van ,vloten  ,leyde2 #ahih4            
,footnote #c3 ,see the review by        
,barbier de ,meynard of the edition of  
,mahasin wal ,azdad in the ,revue       
,citique1 #aijj1 #bgf4    ,in the ,parsi
 ecclesiastical literature of an ethical
 nature we find  definitely settled what
 is proper and1 on the other hand1 what 
is  improper4#a ,it is well known that  
books under this title1--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 ,a4,d4#b ,comparing  the      
,pahlavi tracts with reference to these 
questions with ,arabic books  on good   

and bad qualities and manners1 we have  
to bear in mind the  general features1  
general outline1 as well as the         
conditions of  civilisation of the      
period when these books were written1 in
 other  words1 the circumstances of     
their intimate relation generally of a  
cultural nature1 particularly of a      
literary form obtaining between the     
,arab and ,persian nations1 and between 
,islam and ,parsism4 ,not only in       
detail1 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
 people4 ,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 ,shuubiya4    ,footnote #a3     
,shayed-na-shayed4    ,footnote #b3     

,shayast la-shayast ,west ,pahlavi      
,texts1 ,part ,i1 #ahhj4  ,sacred ,books
 of the ,east1 ,vol4 ,v4 #bcg-djg4      
,furthermore1 associated with these     
literary features was also that class   
of ,arabic books1 so well known and the 
period of which interests us1 the  books
 on ,questions and ,answers4#a          
,footnote #a3 ,kitab al ,masael wa      
,jawabat4    ,and this is precisely the 
form in which some of the better known  
of the  ,parsi books have been cast1 for
 instance1 the ,minog-i-,khrad#a and the
  ,dadistan#b ,the second of these books
 decidedly belongs to the ninth         
century4 ,its contents no doubt1 were   
strongly divergent from others  owing to
 its dependence on altered conditions4  
,footnote #a3 ,sacred ,books of the     
,east1 ,vol4 ,,xxiv1 #a-ae4    ,footnote
 #b3 ,sacred ,books of the ,east        
,,xviii1 #a-bgg4    ,we have already    
indicated the importance of the         
citations in early  ,arabic anthologies 
incorporated from ,persian historical   

works4#a ,this  nature of quotations are
 to be found also in books on good and  
bad  morals and conduct4 ,further we    
find embedded in ,arabic works a        
considerable amount of matter of great  
importance1 a circumstance of  vital    
moment for the investigation of the     
survival of ,persian literary           
tradition4 ,a number of passages similar
 to those found in these books  are     
undoubtedly embodied in various ,arabic 
anthologies4 ,we give below  from the   
two works al ,mahasin wal ,masavi and al
 ,mahasin wal ,azdad  extracts bearing  
on ,persian subjects4#b    ,footnote #a3
 ,see ,noeldeke ,national ,epos #ac4    
,footnote #b3 ,see ,part ,,ii4    ,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 morals4                 
,,chapter ,,vii    ,the ,book of ,ali   
,ibn ,ubaida ar ,raihani      ,,pahlavi 

,,rushnai ,,nameh4    ,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 particular4     
,besides the ethico-didactic book1 ,mehr
 ,adar  ,jushnas1 he is the reputed     
author of a book on ,adab which has a   
,persian  title 7,fihrist #a1 #aai1 #bb 
and ,,ii1 #eb71a and also another book  
the  title of which could not be        
deciphered by ,flugel when he edited the
 text  of the ,fihrist1 7,fih4 #aai1    
#ba74 ,the title consists of two words  
which  can be read conjecturally as     
,rushna nibik4#b ,such a name of a book 
we  know to exist in ,middle ,persian   
literature4#c    ,footnote #a3 ,kitab   
,adab ,jawanshir4    ,footnote #b3 ,as  
regards the mutilation of ,persian      
proper names in the  ,fihrist1 such     
comparatively wellknown books as ,khuday
 ,nameh appear in  some of the          
manuscripts of the ,fihrist as ,baktiyar
 ,nameh instead of  bakhuday ,nameh2 see

 ,rosen's essay on the ,translations of 
the ,khuday  ,nameh1 #agg4    ,footnote 
#c3 ,west2 ,sacred ,books of the ,east  
,vol4 ,v4 page #bda1 note #a1  and      
,sacred ,books of the ,east ,vol4 ,,iii1
 #afi4 ,the first authority is not      
quite clear to me4 ,the second authority
 is evident3 writing which the          
glorified ,roshna1 son of ,atur-frobag1 
prepared--for which he appointed  the   
name of the ,roshan ,nipik4 ,tr4 ,re the
 name of ,rushen see ,justi  ,namenbuch 
#bfb under the word ,rozanis4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,books of this title in ,pahlavi        
literature related to a variety of      
religious problems and treated of       
ethicodidactic themes4 ,the same title1 
further1 we find in the ,middle ,persian
 literature4 ,this is the title of  the 
wellknown book of ,nasir-i-,khusrao1    
namely1 ,rushnai ,nameh1 a  considerable
 portion of which manifests ,shia and   
,sufistic influences and  which by its  
nature must have been connected with    

ethico-didactic  literature4#a ,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 nature4 ,this    
book formed1 as no doubt its author did1
 the uniting  link between the didactic 
,parsi clerical writings and the ethical
  literature of ,islam4    ,footnote #a3
 ,g,i,ph ,vol4 ,,ii1 #bhj4    ,now      
reading as ,rushana ,nibik the title of 
the book of ,ar ,rayhani  occurring in  
the ,fihrist1 we establish a historical 
fact in literature4  ,not only          
redactions of ,persian historical books 
like ,khuday ,nameh and  the ,ain       
,nameh1 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 ,fihrist4 ,this is  a phenomenon of 
outstanding importance for the          

appreciation of the  significance of    
,persian literary tradition in the first
 centuries of  ,islam4                  
,,appendix ,i    ,,independent          
,,zoroastrian ,,princes ,,of            
,,tabaristan4      ,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  invasion4 ,here the ,arsacide
 princes had permitted the local tribes 
to  rule1 for these tribes were probably
 from the first almost independent  and 
only acknowledged their paramountcy and 
paid tribute4 ,they had the  title of   
,spadhapati or in modern language       
,ispehbed which was turned  into the    
,arabic ,isfehbed4 ,one of them1        
,gushnasp ,shah1 is named as a          
contemporary of ,ardashir ,i4 ,it was   
only so late as in the time of ,kawadh  
that this king succeeded in establishing
 a ,sasanian prince1 his son  ,keyus1 as
 ,shah of ,tabaristan in #ecj4 ,at the  
death of his father he  contested the   

throne with ,khusrow ,i1 and was        
therefore slain by the  latter in #ecg4 
,his son ,shapur remained in ,persia1   
and a prince of the  ,arsacide house of 
,qaren1 named ,zarmihr1 son of ,sokhra  
was appointed  governor4 ,the           
administration of ,rae1 ,derbend and a  
portion of ,armenia  was before now     
entrusted to ,jamasp1 a son of ,peroz1  
who was succeeded by  his son ,narsi1   
while another son1 ,behvat1 father of   
,surkhab became the  ancestor of the    
kings of ,shirvan who were known as     
,shirvan ,shahs4  ,narsi's son was      
,peroz1 the father of ,farrukhan        
,gilanshah1 whose capital  accordingly  
was ,gilan and who in #fdc concluded a  
peace with the ,arabs4    ,gil          
,gaubareh1 the son of this prince1      
united1 with the consent of  ,yezgird   
the ,,iii1 who could not prevent him1   
,gilan with ,tabaristan1 where  the     
dynasty of ,zarmihr had come to an end4 
,it cannot be doubted that  ,sasanian   
princes became the governors of these   

territories4 ,the sons of  ,gaubareh    
were ,daboe 7#ffj-fgf7 and ,patospan1 in
 ,pahlavi ,patkospan or  governor1 in   
modern ,persian ,baduspan4 ,daboe was   
succeeded by his brother  ,khurshed     
7#fgf-gji74 ,we possess coins struck by 
him in the years #gjf-gji4  ,then came  
,daboe's son ,ferkhan more correctly    
,farrukhan1 the ,great  7#gji-gbb72 he  
defeated several attempts on the part of
 the ,moslems to  penetrate the country4
 ,our authorities are ,tabari 7vol4 #b  
p4 #acba72  ,kitaboloyun 7#bb-h72       
,zahireddin 7#de1 #aj4bgc1 #ad72        
,mordtmann 7,,zdmg #ai1  #did74 ,his son
 ,dad-,burzmihr died according to       
,zahireddin in #gdh1 still  his son     
,khurshed ,,ii already struck in #gcd   
his first coin4 ,he was  defeated by the
 ,arabs and took poison which he used to
 carry in his  signet ring in #gei4     
,the ,masmoghan or the priest-prince1   
the successor of ,zarathustrotema  of   
,ragha or modern ,rai1 who had his seat 
in the city of ,demawend or the  ,castle

 of ,ustunavend1 and who was the        
son-in-law of the ,ispehbed1 was        
defeated and the daughters of both the  
princes were married to members  of the 
house of ,abbas4    ,the descendants of 
the ,badusepan1 whom ,zahireddin        
carefully traces in  all the branches of
 the family1 ruled over ,ruyan1         
,rustamdar1 ,nur and  ,kujur1 down to   
the year #adec1 when they divided       
themselves into two  branches which     
continued to reign till #aefg1 and      
#aegf4    ,another dynasty was the      
mountain rulers of ,qaren1 which is     
named after  its founder4 ,the first    
,qaren was the son of ,sokhra1 the      
brother of  ,zarmihr4 ,these princes    
were also styled ,ispehbeds4 ,a         
descendant of  ,qaren was               
,vindad-,hormizd1 who in conjunction    
with ,shervin ,i of the house  of       
,bavend1 and with the ,badusepan1       
,shahriyar ,i1 conquered the ,arabs in  
#ghc1 but subsequently surrendered      
himself to ,hadi and went to ,baghdad   

till the latter became ,khalif in #ghe4 
,there is some confusion in the         
chronology of this dynasty also4 ,a few 
rulers appear to be wanting  because    
between the beginning of the dynasty in 
#efe to its close in #hci  the average  
reign of the six princes would come to  
#de or #df years4  ,maziyar1 son of     
,qaren1 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 #haf-ag1 and returned after the     
victory  over ,musa ,ibn ,hafs in #hbe  
but was himself worsened by the ,arabs  
in #hci  and executed4 ,thereupon       
,tabaristan came into the power of the  
,tahirides1  the nominal governors of   
the ,khalif in ,khorasan4 ,our          
authorities are  ,beladhori #acd1 #ad2  
,masudi #g1 #acg2 ,kitab ol ,oyun #cii1 
#f2 ,yaqut #c1 #bhd1 #d4  #ejf1 #aj2    
,abulfida #b1 #bab1 #b4    ,the ,bavend 
dynasty is a continuation of the        
,masmughans4 ,their original  ancestor  

,bav who is characterised as son of     
,shahpur1 son of ,kayos1  received from 
,khusraw ,,ii the governorship of       
,istakhr1 ,adharbaijan and  ,tabaristan1
 but retired himself into a fire-temple 
in the time of queen  ,azarmidukht4     
,when the ,arabs in #fee had advanced to
 the vicinity of ,amul1  the            
,mazenderanis invited him to lead them  
and he was the founder of the  ,bavend  
dynasty called after him4 ,now ,bav was 
killed by ,valash in #fgi1  who did not 
belong to the dynasty and it was only #h
 years later on that  the son of ,bav1  
,suhrab1 more correctly ,surkhab1 came  
to the throne4 ,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
  ,gurgan1 ,vashmgir and ,qabus4 ,the   
other line1 the mountain kings proper1  
sprang from a son of the last prince of 
the first line and was  extinguished    
with the murder of ,rustum by ,sayed    
,husain in #abaj4 ,a third  offshoot    

originating from a collateral branch of 
the second enjoyed  princely power from 
#abcg-acdi4    ,the ,arabs had their    
governors in ,tabaristan who in the     
first period  minted coins with         
,sasanian impress and with ,pahlavi     
legends2 they were1  however1 from time 
to time expelled by the people4 ,these  
coins struck by  the ,arabs after the   
model of the ,pahlavi mintage were first
 deciphered  by ,olshausen4 ,ibn        
,khaldun is compelled to admit that the 
,arabs are of  all the people the least 
capable to govern a country4            
,translated from ,justi's contribution  
to ,grunddrisder der iranischen         
,philologie4 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #edg        
seq4--,g4,k4,n4    ,to the above concise
 sketch of the history of ,tabaristan   
for the period  which concerns us1 which
 ,i have translated from ,justi1 one of 
the most  sympathetic writers on ,iran1 
a few paras may be added from the       
fascinating history of ,ibn-,isfandiyar 
which professor ,browne has made        

accessible to us4    ,long after the    
,sasanian dynasty had fallen1 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          
,tabaristan2 and their struggles with   
the ,arabs  only ended about ,a4,d4 #hch
 by the capture and cruel execution of  
the  gallant ,maziyar1 son of ,qaren1   
son of ,wanda-,hurmuz4 ,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        
authority1 who has reproduced the story 
of ,zoroastrian aggressions in  all its 
original spirit4 ,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 ideal4 
7p4 ,,xii74 ,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 country1 without      
their permission no one dared enter the 
highlands from the plains1 and  all the 
highlands were under their control4 ,and
 when a ,moslem died they  would not    
suffer him to be buried in that country4
 7p4 #aca74 italics  mine1 ,g4,k4,n4    
,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  #adf1 which supplies 
a typical instance of conversion by     
persuasion and  not persecution4        
,further note that the ,khalif ,mamun   
had a ,zoroastrian  astrologer whose    
,zoroastrian name the ,khalif arabicised
 into ,yahya ibn  ,mansur 7p4 #adf74    
,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 ,babak1  ,mazdak1 and   
other ,magians who ordered the          
,muhammadan mosque to be  destroyed and 
all trace of ,islam to be removed4 7p4  
#aeb-c74 ,italics  mine1 ,g4,k4,n4 ,the 
,khalif ,al-,muatasim was no less       
lenient in matters  religious than some 
of the ,khulfa i rashidin4 ,in the year 
#hed-ee he  deputed one of his nobles to
 bid a ,zoroastrian chieftain break his 
,magian girdle and embrace ,islam1 which
 he did and thereupon received a  robe  
of honour from the ,khalif4 7p4 #aeg74  
,at page #aeg we notice the             
extortionate practices of a ,magian4    
,,parsi ,,princes ,,during ,,khalifat4  
,in the time of the ,arabs we find an   
actual principality whose ruler  bore   
the title of ,masimogan or the elder of 
the ,magians4 ,to him also  belonged the
 cities of ,wima and ,shalamba          

7,istakhri #bji2 ,ibn ,khurdadbeh  #aah2
 ,ibn-al ,faqih #bhd7 as well as the    
territory of ,khwar4 ,magian  princes   
during ,khalifat 7,tabari #ab1fef74     
,the first definite mention of the      
,masmoghan occurs in the year #aca      
,a4,h41 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 him4 7,ibn al   
,athir vol4 #e1cjd74 ,it was only  under
 ,mamun that the mountainous country of 
the ,masmoghan was  subjugated4 ,the    
last prince1 whose brother ,aparwez     
fought on side of the  ,arabs1 was taken
 prisoner and confined with his two     
daughters in the  mountain fastness of  
,ustunawand in #ada ,a4,h4 7,tabari     
,vol4 #b1 #acg74    ,the exact time of  
the rise of this principality is        
unknown4 ,for the  ,masmoghan           
,mardanshah who is mentioned by ,saif in
 a treaty with ,suwaid  ,mukarrin under 
,omar 7,tabari #a1 #bfef71 belongs      

positively to the time of  ,muhallab1   
#ih ,a4,h4 ,i surmise1 however1 that the
 ,dynasty of the ,magian  ,baw1 the     
father of the renegade ,mahgundat1 whose
 ,christian name was  ,anstasious1 who  
became a martyr to ,christianity in     
#fbh1 originated from  the village of   
,warznin in the territory of ,rai 7,acta
 ,anstasii ,persae1 p4  #bf  #ef71 and  
is connected with the ,bawend dynasty   
which appeared just  at this place in   
#afg1 and is definitely traced to the   
,magian ,baw4 7,the  authorities for the
 above are ,tabari vol4 #c1 #abie and   
,zahirud-din #bje1  see also ,,zdmg #di1
 #ffa47    ,baw is a pure ,magian name  
and is a transcription of the ,avesta   
,bangha  7,yesht #ac1abd74 ,another     
transliteration of the same word is     
,bohak1 a  name borne by a hero of      
,ispahan who with his six sons and an   
army joined  ,ardeshir 7,karnamak #d1   
#c1 p4 #bb-ai2 ,neoleke #df74 ,it was   
also the name  of a son of ,hobakht1 the
 chief ,mobed under ,shapur ,,ii4       

,bahak1 son of  ,fredon1 was the        
ancestor of ,aturpat ,mahraspand        
7,bundahesh #cc2 ,west  ,pahlavi ,texts 
#a1 #ade74 ,another form of the same    
name is ,bawe1 who was  the ,astabed or 
magister officiorum of the ,persians    
7,josua ,stylite  ed4 ,wright #ei74 ,the
 first ruler of the ,bawend dynasty who 
enters history  is ,sharwin ibn ,surkhab
 7,tabari #c1 #eai74 ,by the ,arabs he  
was at first  made a vassal controlling 
the slopes of the ,alburz 7,ibn al      
,faqih #cjd2  ,yakut #c1 #bhc71 and     
probably assumed the title              
,padashkhwargar-shah  which his         
descendants continued to hold in the    
time of al ,beruni  7,chronology1 p4    
,,xl1 ,no4 #g74 ,in ,yakubi 7vol4 #b1   
#dgi7 he even bears the  title of ,king 
of ,tokharistaxi4 ,after him is named   
,mount ,sherwin on the  boundary of     
,komish 7,tabari #c1 #abge2 ,ibn al     
,fakih #cje2 ,belazuri #cci1 #g74  ,in  
the year #bja1 that is1 ,a4,d4 #haf-ag1 
however1 the governor of  ,tabaristan1  

,abdallah ,ibn ,khurdadbeh1 the father  
of the historian and  geographer1       
invaded ,larijan and ,sarijan and       
annexed them to the empire  of ,islam4  
,he likewise conquered the mountain land
 of ,tabaristan and  compelled          
,shahryar1 the son of ,sherwin1 to      
surrender 7,tabari #c1 #ajad74    ,but  
after the death of ,shahryar1 in        
#hbe-bf1 ,maziyar ,ibn ,qaren contested 
the kingdom with his son ,shapur and in 
alliance with the ,moslems invaded      
,mount ,sherwin1 captured the sons of   
,shahryar and put them to death4        
7,tabari #c1 #ajic1 ,belazuri #cci and  
,ibn al ,fakih #cji47 ,however1 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 estate4    ,as regards the     
,avesta expression ,ragha               
,zarathushtrish in the ,yasna #i1  #ah1 
it refers to political conditions of a  
much anterior age not yet  reached by   

our historical investigations4          
,translated from ,marquarts1 ,eranshahr1
 p4 #abg seq-,g4,k4,n4                  
,,appendix ,,ii    ,,iranian ,,material 
,,in ,,mahasin ,,wal ,,masavi ,,and     
,,mahasin ,,wal ,,azdad4      ,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    
editions4  ,unfortunately ,i have not   
been able to procure the latter and     
cannot  verify the allusions4 ,i1       
however1 reproduce below the ,iranian   
subjects  touched upon in these two     
,arabic books on adab in the ,cairo     
editions4    ,iranian material from the 
,mahasin-wal masawi1 ,part ,i1 p4 #a4 ,a
 dictum of  ,buzarjmahir4    ,p4 #hb1 ,a
 story of ,king ,kobad4    ,p4 #if1 ,a  
story of ,anushirwan1 the wisest of men 
of his time in ,persia4    ,p4 #aaj1 ,a 
story of ,king ,ardeshir4    ,p4 #abb1  
,reference to a custom of the ,persian  

kings and a story of  ,yazdajard4       
,iranian material from the ,mahasin-wal 
masawi ,part ,,ii4    ,p4 #fb1 ,a story 
about ,shiruya1 son of ,aberwez4    ,p4 
#gd1 ,a dictum of the ,persians on      
eloquence4    ,p4 #ge1 ,a story about   
,buzarjmahir4    ,p4 #abc1 ,a story     
about ,anushirwan4    ,p4 #abe1 ,a story
 about ,king ,kobad and a ,,mobed4      
,p4 #aca1 ,a story of ,anushirwan4      
,p4 #acc1 ,a dictum of ,buzarjmahir4    
,p4 #aed1 ,a story of ,hurmuz1 son of   
,anushirwan4    ,p4 #aee1 ,a story of   
,bahramgor4    ,p4 #aee1 ,a story of the
 sense of justice of ,king ,anushirwan4 
,p4 #aff1 ,a story of ,anushirwan4      
,p4 #afi1 ,reference to a ,,zand book in
 connection with ,islam4    ,p4 #agj1 ,a
 story of an ,arab who acted as         
interpreter in ,arabic to a  ,persian   
,king4    ,p4 #agh1 ,a story as narrated
 by ,kisrawi about ,kisra1 son of       
,hormuz4    ,p4 #agh1 ,reference to a   
,majus or ,zoroastrian4    ,p4 #aid1 ,a 
story of ,shiruya1 son of ,kisra4    ,p1

 #aii1 ,a quotation from ,ibn-ul        
,muqaffa4    ,p4 #bjc1 ,the story of    
,sabur-zul-aktaf4    ,,iranian          
,,material ,,in ,,the                   
,,mahasin-,,wal-,,azdad4    ,p4 #ad1    
,story of ,king ,abarwez4    ,p4 #ag1   
,story of the ,kisra4    ,p4 #ce1       
,quotation from al ,kisrawi1 relating a 
story about ,kisra1 son of  ,hormuz4 ,in
 this story the unfortunate general     
,afshin1 the governor of  ,ashrushna1 is
 plainly designated a ,majus or         
,zoroastrian4    ,p4 #ea1 ,a dictum of  
,bahramgor4    ,p4 #ea1 ,the            
conversation between the ,,mobedan      
,,mobed and ,king ,aberwez4    ,p4 #ea1 
,reference to the book of our           
7,zoroastrian7 religion 7,kitab         
din-na74    ,p4 #aaj1 ,reference to an  
inscription on a stone slab discovered  
in the  treasury of a ,persian king4    
,p4 #afc1 ,the story of ,balash as      
narrated by ,kisrawi1 7on this story    
,baron  ,rosen bases his investigation  
of the ,pahlavi ,khodaynama47    ,p4    

#afh1 ,an anecdote of ,king ,aberwez4   
,professor ,inostranzev finds the       
following ,iranian material in the      
,mahasin-wal masavi and the ,mahasin-wal
 azdad 7,,mm,mahasin-wal ,masavi1 and   
,,ma,mahasin wal-azdad73    ,,ma1 #ba1  
#d to #aj--,,mm1 #dij1  #b to  #g4      
,,ma1 #cg1 #ab to #ad--,,mm1 #abh1 #aa  
to #ab4  ,,ma1 #ec1 #ad to #af--,,mm1   
#ega1  #a to  #c4  ,,ma1 #gh1  #e to    
#i--,,mm1 #bjb1  #b to  #e4  ,,ma1 #gi1 
#b to  #f--,,mm1 #bjb1 #ad to #af4      
,,ma1 #gi1  #f to #aa--,,mm1 #bjb1 #af  
to #bjc1 #b4  ,,ma1 #afh1bj to          
#c--,,mm1 #caj1 #af to #ah4  ,,ma1 #agj1
 #b to  #c--,,mm1 #cac1  #g to  #h4     
,,ma1 #agc1 #h to #af--,,mm1 #cgb1 #aa  
to #ah4      ,in connection with the    
importance of ,kisrawi as regards the   
,persian  literary material1 these are  
the extracts from him in the two ,arabic
  works3    ,,ma1 #afh1 #bj to #bfi1    
#c--,,mm1 #caj1 #af to #ah4  ,,ma1  #ec1
 #ad to     #af--,,mm1 #ega1  #a to  #c4
  ,,ma1 #cei1 #ac to #cfd1 #f--,,mm1    

#cgf1  #a to  #i4    ,in view of the    
remarks by ,browne 7,literary           
,history1#dga to #dge7  regarding the   
significance of ,persian words and      
expressions in the  ancient ,arabic     
literary works for the history of the   
,persian language1  of particular       
importance are the excerpts from        
,kisrawi1 ,,ma #afh1bj to  #bfi1        
#c--,,mm1 #caj1 #af to #ah1 where occur 
,persian phrases from the maxims  of    
,anushirwan which as ,i think have been 
handed down to us in pure  ,pahlavi4    
,interesting is the interpretation of   
the ,persian word ,mihman  at another   
place in the same ,arabic books1        
viz3--,,ma1 #gi1 #f to #aa,,mm1  #bjb1  
#af to #bjc1 #b4          ,,appendix    
,,iii    ,translation of ,noeldeke's    
,burzoe's ,einleitung zu dem ,buche     
,kalila wa  ,dimna4    ,,burzoe',s      
,,introduction ,,to ,,the ,,book ,,of   
,,kalila ,,wa ,,dimna4      ,sidenote3  
,burzoe's ,introduction not fabricated4 
,the ,arabic redaction of the ,indian   

tales which we know under the name of   
,kalila wa ,dimna had two unquestionably
 genuine ,introductions1 that of  the   
compilator ,ibn ,moqaffa himself who    
died in #adb ,a4,h41 and that of        
,burzoe who in the time of ,king        
,khusrow ,i1 7,a4,d4 #eca to #egi7      
brought the  book from ,india and       
translated it into the written ,persian 
language of  the time1 the ,pehlevi4    
,the circumstances regarding the mission
 of ,burzoe  to ,india are still not    
clear4 ,at any rate ,ibn ,moqaffa did   
not write as  we read them now4         
,nevertheless it is by no means         
improbable that he had affixed to his   
book a report which1 however1 wan       
subsequently mutilated1 of necessity1   
in diverse ways4 ,the preface by        
,ala-ibn-,shah or ,behbod1 which has    
also  been printed by de ,sacy1 which is
 found in a few manuscripts and which   
is not known to the ancient translations
 is a later and entirely  valueless     
excrescence4    ,the ,introduction of   

,burzoe stood in the ,pehlevi work which
 ,ibn ,moqaffa  had before him4         
,according to certain manuscripts this  
,introduction has  been compiled--or    
however we translate the ambiguous term 
tarjuma--by  ,burzgmihir1 the prime     
minister of ,khusrow1 much better known 
in polite  literature than in history4  
,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 him4 ,the          
ascription is purely an  erroneous      
inference from the above-mentioned      
report of the  circumstances touching   
the mission of ,burzoe1 has not the     
slightest  inherent probability1 and is 
besides wanting not only in other       
manuscripts but also in all the older   
translations4    ,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  language4 ,that language as    
,hertel has shown was ,sanskrit1 which  
fact1  however1 does not preclude the   
possibility of an ,indian interpreter   
translating the original text to the    
,persian who spoke a modern ,indian     
tongue4 ,several passages speak to the  
fact that the author of the             
,introduction is the physician4 ,why    
should ,ibn ,moqaffa pretend that       
,burzoe earnestly studied medicine and  
practised it8 ,moreover1 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 with4 ,the entire situation seems  
to me to harmonise  with the            
circumstances of the ,persian physician4
 ,specially noteworthy is  the encomium 
on the ,persian sovereign4    ,sidenote3
 ,ibn ,moqaffa took liberties with the  
,pehlevi4    ,this is1 however1 not     
equivalent to saying that the ,arabic   

text is an  exact replica1 down to      
details1 of the original of ,burzoe4 ,in
 the first  place it has to be observed 
that ,ibn ,moqaffa was no pure          
translator at  all but a regular        
redactor of his model4 ,his object was  
to prepare a  work suitable to the taste
 of his highly educated readers and at  
the  same time entertaining and         
instructive4 ,he proceeded1 therefore1  
not  only with a tolerably free hand as 
an artist in words but added good  many 
things of his own4 ,above all here we   
have to bear in mind the trial  of      
,dimna4 ,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 ,moqaffa4 ,i would also claim1
 for ,ibn ,moqaffa the  somewhat        
unimportant history of the anchorite and
 his guest4 ,the manner  of his         
narrative we learn from his own preface4

 ,it is especially to be  noted that    
here also as in the trial of ,dimna he  
recounts anecdotes  after the ,indian   
fashion4    ,sidenote3 ,ibn ,moqaffa's  
religious scepticism4    ,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
 ,moqaffa2 and this1 ,i presume1 as ,i  
showed long ago1  specially from the    
disquisition on enquiry into the        
uncertainty of  religions4 ,it appears  
much more to fit in with ,ibn ,moqaffa  
than ,burzoe4    ,ibn ,moqaffa exchanged
 the religion of his ,persian fathers   
for ,islam only  in his mature          
years1--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 ,empire4 ,to

 such a man the scepticism of our       
section is  natural1 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 ,moqaffa1--such as ,god as  the    
,creator1 and the next world with its   
reward and penalties4 ,had ,ibn         
,moqaffa1 in his own name confessed to  
such religious doubts publicly no       
patron could have saved him from capital
 punishment4 ,on the other hand  he ran 
no risk in ascribing the questionable   
exposition to the ,persian  long since  
dead1 who1 however1 supposing that he   
harboured such doubts  could not have   
given expression to them as a physician 
attached to the  ,imperial ,court of    
,persia4 ,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 cherished1 no doubt1 also by a
 ,mazdyasnian4  ,this doctrine1         

therefore1 speaks neither for nor       
against the authorship  of ,ibn         
,moqaffa4 ,equally far from decisive is 
the exhortation to pure  morality which 
finds expression there4    ,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  ,shahnama4 7,mohl vol4 
#e1 #ec ff2 ,macan #abic74 ,the king of 
,india called  ,kaid has several dreams 
which are interpreted to him by the sage
 ,mihran4  ,the third dream1 about four 
men pulling at a fine piece of cloth1   
each  towards himself1 without tearing  
it1 is thus explained by him3    ,know  
that the piece of cloth is the religion 
divine end that the four  men who pull  
at it have come to preserve it4 ,one of 
the religions is  that of the ,dihkans1 
the fire-worshippers1 who may not take  
in hand the  ,barsom without pronouncing
 the prayer formula4    ,the ,dihkans   
were properly speaking the small landed 
nobility of the  ,sasanian times and as 

such were representatives of the ancient
 ,persian  religion2 barsom and the     
prayer formula or baz are well-known    
components of their ritual4    ,another 
religion is that of ,moses1 which is    
called the ,jewish religion1            
maintaining that none besides itself is 
worthy of praise2 the third  religion is
 of ,greece1 belongs to men of piety and
 brings equity to the  heart of princes 
7this is ,christianity74 ,the fourth is 
the pure faith of  the ,arab which      
raises the head of the intelligent out  
of dust4 ,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 religion4    ,sidenote3    
,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 7,,zdmg #ei1     
#hjc74 ,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
 ,islam1 even supposing that the last   
redaction of the  official ,sasanian    
history took place at a time when       
,muhammadanism had  already come into   
existence4 ,but ,firdausi did not at all
 invent the  material of his narrative4 
,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 7see what ,i 
have to say on this in my ,national     
,epic of ,iran1 ,grundriss der iran     
philogie74 ,in actuality ,ibn ,moqaffa  
was not believed to be a sincere        
,muslim4 ,he is frequently stigmatised  
as  ,zindik or heretic 7,see ,aghani    
#ac4ha1 #ah ff4 #ah1 #bjj1 #be ff4 ,ibn 
,qotaiba1 ,uyun #ga1 #i2 further ,ibn   
,khallikan #ahf1 p4 #abe47    ,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 infidels4 ,the   
etemology1 ,aramaic ,zaddiqy1 has been  
recognised  by ,bevan4    ,again the    
passage does not fit in with the tenor  
of the entire section4  ,for ,burzoe who
 was at a loss with regard to the       
physician's art1 the  main question is1 
whether he should or should not become  
an ascetic1--a  question which must     
concern ,ibn ,moqaffa but little4 ,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 there4    ,sidenote3 
,burzoe influenced by ,buddhism    ,it  
seems to me highly probable that ,burzoe
 allowed himself to be  influenced by   
the ,buddhist romance1 the original of  
which has perished  and the best        
representative of which1 is preserved to
 us in the ,arabic  ,bilauhar wa ,budasf
 7,see ,barlaam und ,joasaph by ,e4     

,kuhn74 ,many a  passage of our chapter 
is strongly reminiscent of the sentences
 of the  romance1 for instance1 the     
dangers to the body remind one of those 
related at p4 #ec2 the four principles  
or akhalat appear at p4 #i1 and  the    
parable of the man in the well is common
 to both4 ,the parable which  stands at 
the close of the chapter is1 unless one 
is greatly mistaken1  directly taken    
from the romance with little            
modification4 ,it stands in  the whole  
of ,kalila wa ,dimna isolated1 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      
,burzoe4 ,and his  appraisement of the  
life of the recluse does not appear     
spontaneous but  something to which he  
has laboriously compelled himself4 ,one 
may surmise  that it was really alive   
only in ,india4 ,how far it was         
practised in  actual life must remain   
unproved4 ,we must not omit to mention  

that  ,burzoe points out that for an    
ideal physician his art earns also rich 
earthly profits4    ,sidenote3 ,english 
translation of the ,introduction a      
desideratum4    ,so far as ,i know1 of  
this chapter there is no translation in 
a ,european  language except in the     
,english by ,knatchbull which appeared  
in #ahai1  which reproduced the         
imperfect text of de ,sacy and is       
otherwise  defective4 ,wolff did well to
 omit it in his ,german translation of  
,kalila wa ,dimna of #ahcg1 for he could
 not have produced a correct  rendering 
of de ,sacy's text which was not        
completed till #ahgc by ,guidi4         
,sidenote3 ,difficulties of translation4
    ,even now it is impossible to make a
 translation of ,burzoe's ,introduction 
which can stand the test of philology4  
,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 text4 ,and  that is1 so far as 

,i can conclude from my not quite       
insignificant  material1 not very       
probable4 ,at all events a searching    
examination of  all the manuscripts in  
the great ,paris library is essential4  
,the various  texts of the book are     
considerably divergent4 ,arbitrariness  
and  carelessness of transcriber have   
disfigured ,ibn ,moqaffa's work of art  
just because it presently became a      
favourite book of entertainment4 ,the   
language at all events remains          
approximately correct in the            
manuscripts4    ,grammatical mistakes   
easy of correction are not seldom met   
with but pure  vulgarisms occur only in 
a few copies like that of ,berlin4 ,the 
numberless variants have not much       
significance for the translator when  it
 is only a question of synonyms1 since  
for them the same ,european  expression 
can do duty4 ,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 one1  
that does not  substantially affect the 
translation4 ,there is scarcely any harm
 in  curtailing the frequent tautology  
of this chapter4 ,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 adverb4 ,but not seldom the
 difference becomes  great4 ,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 one4 ,as a rule 
we have to decide in favour of the      
majority but  as sometimes we do come   
across actual interpolations in some1 so
 their  existence is not impossible in  
others1 although we can not be positive 
on the subject4    ,sidenote3 ,a        
monumental piece of literature4    ,the 
matter would have been less troublesome 
for me had ,i been able  straight way to
 declare as the best the tradition of   

any of the  manuscripts familiarly known
 to me or any old translation4 ,that1   
however1 is not so4 ,i have to judge    
each case by itself and to proceed      
eclectically as much as my philological 
conscience permits4 ,finally1 by  means 
of my rendering ,i believe ,i have      
reproduced the import of this           
monumental piece of literature without  
showing absolute partiality to  the     
,arabic document4 ,my rendering is      
wanting doubtless in the elegance  with 
which ,ibn ,moqaffa handles the language
 which in his time had  acquired the    
capacity of treating even abstract      
subjects with lucidity4  ,may a later   
hand improve upon my translation6       
,only those who attempt it can          
appreciate how difficult it is to make a
  tolerable ,european translation even  
of an easily intelligible ,arabic  text4
 ,a literal translation would be wooden4
 ,we have often to alter the  entire    
construction and to insert all manner of
 words foreign to the  ,arabic to make  

the context clear4 ,on the other hand   
the translator must  avoid employing the
 same expression in rapid succession1 a 
procedure  which is common in ,arabic   
even if we make allowance for the figura
  etymologica and the like4             
,sidenote3 ,ibn ,qutaiba and ,ibn       
,moqaffa4    ,i only know two passages  
in this chapter which are quoted by     
,arabic  authors4 ,brockelmann informs  
me that no quotation from our chapter   
occurs in the unpublished portion of the
 ,uyun of ,ibn ,qutaiba4 ,unless ,i  am 
mistaken the excerpts in this book from 
,kalila wa ,dimna are not  always       
correct4 ,ibn ,qutaiba was concerned    
more with the sense than with  the      
phraseology of ,ibn ,moqaffa4           
,,the ,,statement ,,of ,,burzoe ,,the   
,,persian ,,physician ,,in ,,chief1     
,who undertook to transcribe and        
translate this ,indian ,book 7,kalila wa
  ,dimna74      ,sidenote3              
,autobiographical4    ,my father        
belonged to the ,warrior class1 my      

mother came of an eminent  priestly     
family4 ,one of the earliest boons which
 the ,lord conferred on  me was that ,i 
was the most favourite child of my      
parents and that they  exerted          
themselves more for my education than   
for my brothers4 ,so when ,i  was seven 
years old they sent me to a children's  
school4    ,this was required to be     
mentioned in his case inasmuch as it    
could not  have been necessary or usual 
for a child of distinguished parentage  
in  early ,persia to be educated in a   
public school4    ,when ,i had learnt   
the ordinary writing ,i was thankful to 
my parents and  perceived something in  
knowledge4    ,in spite of the wide     
divergence in the ,arabic texts and     
translations  the sense of the original 
is clear4 ,note the reference to the    
difficult  nature of the ,pehlevi       
syllabary4 ,only the ,spanish version   
has a good  deal more about the         
schooling4    ,sidenote3 ,appreciation  
of the healing art4    ,and the first   

branch of science to which ,i felt      
inclination was  medicine4 ,it had a    
great attraction for me because ,i      
recognised its  excellence and the more 
,i acquired it the more ,i loved it and 
the more  earnestly ,i studied it4 ,now 
when ,i had progressed sufficiently far 
to  think of treating invalids ,i took  
counsel with myself and reflected in    
the following manner on the four objects
 for which mankind so earnestly  strive4
 ,which of them shall ,i seek to acquire
 with the help of my art1  money1       
prosperity1 fame1 or reward in the next 
world8 ,in the choice of  my calling the
 decisive factor was my experience that 
men of  understanding praise medicine   
and that the adherents of no religion   
censure it4 ,i found1 however1 in       
medical literature that the best        
physician is he who by his devotion to  
his vocation strives only after a       
reward in the next world2 and ,i        
resolved to act accordingly and not to  
think of worldly gain1 so that ,i may   

not be likened to the merchant who  sold
 for a worthless bead a ruby by which he
 could have acquired a world  of wealth4
 ,on the other hand1 ,i found in the    
books of the ancients that  when a      
physician strives after the reward in   
the next world by means of  his art he  
thereby forfeits no fraction of his     
worldly guerdon but that  therein he is 
to be compared with the peasant who     
carefully sows his  plot of ground to   
acquire corn and who subsequently       
without further  effort gets along with 
the harvest all manner of vegetation4   
,the cultivator along with the harvest  
gets grass and vegetation which  may    
serve as a pasture for cattle4          
,sidenote3 ,burzoe starts practice4     
,i1 therefore1 directed my attention to 
the hope of securing recompense  in the 
next world by curing the sick and was at
 considerable pains in  the treatment of
 all the deceased whom ,i hoped to cure 
and even such as  were past all such    
hopes1 whose suffering ,i endeavoured at

 least to  alleviate4 ,i personally     
attended those ,i could2 but where this 
was not  possible ,i gave the patients  
the necessary instructions and also sent
  medicine4 ,and from none of those whom
 ,i so treated did ,i demand payment  or
 other return4 ,i was jealous of none of
 my colleagues who was my  equal in     
knowledge and who excelled me in repute 
and riches2 although as  a matter of    
fact he was lacking in equity and good  
manners4 ,when1  however1 my soul felt  
inclined to impel me to be jealous of   
such and to  be covetous of a situation 
like his ,i met it with severity in the 
following manner3--    ,sidenote3       
,burzoe addresses his own soul4 ,the    
physician's arduous  calling4           
,sidenote3 ,a simile4    ,o soul1 dost  
not thou differentiate between what is  
useful and what is  injurious to thee8  
,dost thou not cease wishing for the    
acquisition of  that which secures for  
every one a small gain but which entails
 severe  exertion and privation and     

which1 when he must at last relinquish  
it1  procures him much sorrow and severe
 punishment in the next world8 ,o  soul1
 thinkest thou not of that which        
succeeds this life and forgettest  it   
because of thy avarice for the things of
 this world8 ,art thou not  ashamed to  
live the evanescent terrestrial life in 
the company of men of  feeble intellect 
and fools8 ,it belongs not to him even  
who has something  of it in his hand3 it
 does not endure with him and only the  
infatuated  and the negligent depend    
upon it4 ,desist from this irrationality
 and  bend all thy might1 so long as in 
thee lies1 to exert thyself for the     
good and for divine recompense4 ,beware 
of procrastination4 ,reflect on  the    
fact that our body is destined to all   
manner of unhappiness and  permeated    
with the four perishable and impure     
principles which are  enclosed in it1   
which struggle against each other1      
defeating each other  by turn1 and thus 
support life which itself is transient4 

,life is like a  statue with several    
limbs4 ,when properly adjusted each in  
its right  place1 they hold themselves  
together on a single pivot but which1   
when  the latter is taken off1 fall to  
pieces4 ,o soul1 do not deceive thyself 
owing to intercourse with friends and   
companions and do not strain  thyself   
after it1 inasmuch as this intercourse  
brings no doubt joy but  also much      
hardship and tribulation and finally    
ends in separation4 ,it is  like a ladle
 which men use for hot soup1 so long as 
it is new but when  it breaks they have 
done with it--burn it4 ,o soul1 allow   
not thyself to  be moved by family and  
relations to amass property for them so 
that  thyself should perish4 ,thou      
shouldst1 then1 be like fragrant incense
  which is burnt only for the enjoyment 
of others4 ,they are like a hair  which 
men cherish so long as it remains on the
 head but cast it off as  impure as soon
 as it falls4 ,o soul1 be steadfast in  
treating the  diseased and give it not  

up because thou findest that the        
physician's  profession is arduous and  
people do not recognise its uses and    
high  value4 ,judge only thyself whether
 a man who cures in another a disease   
making him feel once more fresh and     
whole is not worthy of a great  reward  
and handsome remuneration4 ,this is the 
case with one who has  solicitude for a 
single individual2 how much more then is
 this so in the  case of a medicineman  
who for meed in the next world thus acts
 towards  a1 large number of men1 so    
that they after torturing pains and     
maladies1  which shut them out from the 
enjoyment of the world1 from food and   
drink1 wife and child1 feel once more as
 well as ever before4 ,who indeed       
merits larger reward and nobler         
retribution8 ,o soul1 do not put away   
from thy sight things of the next world 
because thou hungerest after  passing   
life4 ,for thou1 in thy haste to acquire
 a triviality  surrenderest the         
valuable2 and such people are in the    

position of the  merchant who had a     
house full of aloe wood and who said1   
,if ,i were to  sell this by weight it  
would take me too long and therefore    
gave it  away wholesale for a trifling  
price4    ,sidenote3 ,autobiographical  
,after thus ,i had replied to my soul   
and thereby explained matters to it  and
 guided it aright it could not deviate  
from truth1 yielded to  righteousness   
and abandoned what it was inclined to4  
,accordingly ,i  continued to treat the 
sick for the sake of my reward in the   
next world4  ,this1 however1 by no means
 prevented my acquiring a rich portion  
of  earthly goods before my journey to  
,india as well as after my return from  
the kings1 and that was more than ,i was
 ambitious of or had hoped for1  for a  
man in my position and my calling4      
,sidenote3 ,limitations of the healing  
art4    ,thereafter ,i again reflected  
on the healing art and found that the   
physician can employ no remedy for a    
suffering patient which so  completely  

cures his disease that it does not      
attack him again or that  he is immune  
from a worse disorder4 ,while1          
therefore1 ,i was unaware how  ,i could 
effect a perfect cure secure against the
 recurrence of a  disease1 ,i saw that  
on the other hand acknowledge of the    
next world was  a permanent absolute    
protection against all distempers4      
,accordingly ,i  conceived a contempt   
for the healing art and a longing for   
religious  knowledge4    ,sidenote3     
,uncertainty of religious ,verity4      
,sidenote3 ,burzoe inquires of religious
 heads on matters divine3 his           
disappointment4    ,when1 however1 this 
occurred to my mind it was not clear to 
me how  matters stood with reference to 
religion4 ,i found nothing in the       
writings on pharmacy which indicated to 
me the truest religion4 ,so far  as ,i  
saw there were many religions and creeds
 and their adherents were  again        
disunited4 ,some inherit their religion 
from their fathers2 others  are         

compelled to adhere to it by fear and   
pressure2 others again aim at  worldly  
advantages1 enjoyments and renown4      
,everyone claims for himself  the       
possession of the true and right faith  
and denounces that of others  as false  
and erroneous4 ,their views on the world
 and other problems are  entirely       
conflicting yet each despises the other1
 is inimical to and  censures every     
other creed4 ,i then resolved to turn to
 the learned and  leaders of every      
religions community with a view to      
examining their  doctrines and precepts 
in order possibly to learn to           
distinguish between  verity and nullity 
and implicity to give my adhesion to the
 former  without altogether accepting as
 true what ,i did not understand4 ,so ,i
  analysed1 investigated and observed1  
but ,i found that all those people  only
 held before me traditional notions4    
,each landed his faith and  reviled that
 of others4 ,it was1 therefore1 evident 
to me that their  conclusions rested on 

mere imagination and that they did not  
speak with  impartiality4 ,in none did  
,i find such fairness and integrity that
  reasonable people could accept their  
dicta and declare themselves  satisfied 
with them4 ,when ,i perceived this it   
was impossible for me to  follow any one
 of the religions and recognised that if
 ,i put faith in  one of them of which  
,i knew nothing ,i should fare like the 
betrayed  believer in the following     
story4    ,sidenote3 ,anecdote of the   
credulous burglar4    ,once upon a time 
a thief set out at night and along with 
his companions  got up on to the roof of
 the house of a man of opulence4 ,as    
they entered  they awoke the owner who  
noticed them and perceived that at that 
hour  they were on the roof with evil   
intent4 ,he awoke his wife and gently   
said to her1 ,i see that up on the top  
of our roof there are thieves4 ,i  will 
pretend to sleep1 wake me up in a voice 
loud enough to be heard by  those on the
 roof and say to me1 ',my husband1 do   

tell me how you came by  so much wealth 
and property4' ,when ,i make no reply   
whatever ask me very  pressingly again4 
,the woman accordingly asked him as she 
was ordered so  that the house-breakers 
heard it all4 ,the man replied1 ,my     
wife1 luck  has led you to great        
prosperity1 so eat and drink1 keep quiet
 and do not  ask about it1 because if ,i
 told it to you1 some one would easily  
hear it  and get something by it1 which 
neither of us would like4 ,she1 however1
  persisted1 ,but my husband1 do tell   
me1 surely there is no one here to      
overhear us4 ,well then1 ,i will tell   
you that ,i have acquired all this      
wealth and goods by theft4 ,how did you 
manage it1 when in the eye of  the      
people you are still irreproachably     
honest and no one suspects you8  ,by    
means of an artifice in the science of  
thieving3 it is so handy and  easy that 
no one can have any suspicion whatever4 
,how so8 ,i used to  manage this way3   
,on a moonlight night ,i would go out   

with my companions1  get up to the roof 
of the house of the person ,i wanted to 
rob as far as  the sky light through    
which the moon shone and then uttered   
seven times  the charm ,sholam ,sholam  
,sholam4 ,i would then embrace the rays 
and  slide down into the house without  
any body noticing my intrusion4 ,then   
at the other extremity of the moon-beams
 ,i again would seven times  repeat the 
magic word and all the money and        
treasures in the house  became visible  
to me4 ,i could take of them whatever ,i
 would4 ,once more ,i  would embrace the
 beams and rehearsing again seven times 
the magic word  mount up to my          
companions and load them with all ,i    
had4 ,next we stole  away unscathed4    
,when the robbers overheard this they   
rejoiced exceedingly and said3 ,in  this
 house we have got a spoil which is more
 valuable to us than the  gold which we 
can get there2 we have acquired a means 
by which ,god  delivers us from fear and
 we are secure against the authorities4 

,so  they watched for a long time and   
when they had made sure that the master 
of the house and his wife had gone to   
sleep the leader of the robbers  stepped
 up to the spot where the light streamed
 through the hole1 spoke  ,sholam       
,sholam seven times1 clasped the rays   
with the intention of  dropping down    
along them and fell head foremost on the
 floor4 ,the  husband sprang to his feet
 with a club and thrashed him to a jelly
  asking him1 ,who are you8 ,and he     
replied1 ,the deceived believer3 this   
is the fruit of blind faith4            
,sidenote3 ,more religious investigation
 and more despair4    ,sidenote3 ,a     
dilemma4    ,accordingly1 after ,i had  
grown sufficiently circumspect not to   
credit  what might probably lead to my  
perdition1 ,i started again             
investigating  religions to discover the
 true one4 ,but ,i again found no reply 
whenever  ,i put questions to any one   
and when a doctrine was propounded to me
 ,i  found nothing which in my judgment 

merited belief or served me as a        
guiding principle4 ,then ,i said1 ,the  
most reasonable course is to cling  to  
the religion in which ,i found my       
fathers4 ,yet when ,i sought            
justification for this course ,i found  
none and said to myself1 ,if that  be   
justification then the sorcerer also had
 one who found his  progenitors to be   
wizards4 ,and ,i thought of the man who 
ate indecently  and when he was rebuked 
for it he excused himself by saying that
 his  ancestors used to feed in the same
 gross way4 ,since1 therefore1 it was   
impossible for me to keep to the        
religion of my forbears and since ,i    
could find no justification for it1 ,i  
desired once more earnestly to  bestir  
myself and most carefully to examine the
 various religions and to  consider     
minutely what they had to offer us4 ,but
 then suddenly the idea  struck me that 
the end was near and that the world     
would presently come  to a close for me4
 ,thereupon ,i pondered as follows3--   

,sidenote3 ,meditation of despair4      
,perhaps the hour of my departure has   
already arrived before ,i could  wring  
my hands4 ,my deeds were once still such
 that ,i could hope they  were          
meritorious4 ,now perhaps the prolonged 
hesitation over my search  and          
investigation would turn me away from   
the good deeds which ,i  practised      
formerly1 so that my end would not be   
such as ,i strove for1  and owing to my 
wavering and vacillation the fate of the
 man in the  following anecdote would   
overtake me4    ,sidenote3 ,an anecdote3
 fatal hesitation4    ,a certain man had
 a love affair with a married woman4    
,she had made for  him a subterraneous  
passage opening into the street and its 
entrance was  constructed close by a    
water jar4 ,this she did for fear lest  
her husband  or some one else should    
surprise her4 ,now one day when her     
paramour was  with her word was brought 
that the husband was standing at the    
door4 ,the  lover hastened to get behind

 the jar but it had been removed by some
 one  so he came to the woman and said1 
,i went to the passage but the jar of   
which you spoke was not there4 ,to which
 the woman1 said ,you fool1 what  have  
you got to do with the jar8 ,i mentioned
 it to point to you the way  to the     
passage4 ,i could not be sure1 since the
 jar was not near the  passage1 you     
should not have spoken of it to me and  
misled me4 ,now  save yourself1 enough  
of your stupidity and hesitation4 ,but  
how shall  ,i go since you spoke to me  
of the jar and even now confuse me8     
,thus he  remained there till the master
 of the house came up and seized hold of
  and belaboured him1 and handed him    
over to the authorities4    ,sidenote3  
,burzoe follows good principles common  
to all creeds4    ,sidenote3 ,the       
properties of righteousness4    ,since  
,i was apprehensive of the risks of     
shilly-shallying ,i resolved not  to    
expose myself to the danger and to      
confine myself entirely to such  works  

as all men regard as benevolent and     
which are consonant with all  the       
religions4 ,i refrained1 therefore1 from
 assault1 murder and robbery1  and      
guarded myself against incontinence and 
my tongue from falsehood and  all       
utterance calculated to harm any one1   
avoided the smallest  deception1        
indecency of language1 falsehood1       
calumny and ridicule and  took pains    
that my heart wished ill of no one and  
that ,i did not  disbelieve in          
resurrection and retribution and        
punishment in the next  world4 ,i turned
 away my mind from wickedness and       
adhered energetically  to good1         
perceived that there is no better       
associate or friend than  righteousness 
and that it is easy to acquire it with  
the help of ,god4 ,i  found that it has 
more tender solicitude for us than      
father and mother  that it leads to good
 and gives true counsel like one friend 
to another1  that use does not diminish 
but rather multiplies it1 and that when 

employed it does not wear out1 but is   
constantly renewed1 and becomes  more   
beautiful2 that we need not fear that   
the authorities will snatch  it from us1
 the enemy will rob or miscreants       
disfigure it1 or water  drown or fire   
will consume it1 wild beasts attack it  
or that any thing  untoward will happen 
to it4 ,he who contemns righteousness   
and its  consequences in the next world 
and permits himself to be seduced from  
it  by a fraction of the sweets of this 
passing world1 he who passes his  days  
with things which do not permit piety to
 approach him1 fares as  did to my      
knowledge the merchant in the following 
story4    ,sidenote3 ,the careless      
,jeweller4    ,a merchant had many      
precious stones4 ,to bore a hole through
 them he  hired a man for a hundred     
pieces of gold a day and went with him  
to his  house4 ,as soon however1 as he  
set to work1 there was a lute and the   
workman turned his eyes towards it4 ,and
 upon the merchant questioning  him     

whether he could play upon it he        
replied1 ,yes1 right well4 ,for he  was 
indeed proficient in the art4 ,then take
 it said the merchant4 ,he  therefore   
took it and played for the merchant the 
whole day beautiful  melodies in proper 
tune so that the jeweller left the caset
 with the  precious stones in it and    
filled with joy kept time1 nodding his  
head  and waving his hand4 ,in the      
evening he said to the jeweller1 ,let me
  have my wages1 ,and when the latter   
said1 ,have you done anything to        
deserve the wage8 he replied1 ,you have 
hired me and ,i have done what  you     
ordered me to do4 ,so he pressed him    
till he received his hundred  pieces    
without any deduction1 while the gems   
remained unbored4    ,sidenote3         
,aversion to pleasures of the world3    
,buddhistic pessimism4    ,the more ,i  
reflected upon the world and its joys   
the deeper grew my  aversion towards    
them4 ,then ,i made up my mind entirely 
to devote myself  to the life of the    

blessed and the anchorite4 ,for ,i saw  
that asceticism  is a garden the hedge  
of which keeps off at a distance eternal
 evils1  and the door through which man 
attains to everlasting felicity4 ,and ,i
  found that a divine tranquility comes 
over the ascetic when he is  absorbed in
 meditation2 for he is still1 contented1
 unambitious1  satisfied1 free from     
cares1 has renounced the world1 has     
escaped from  evils1 is devoid of greed1
 is pure1 independent1 protected against
  sorrow1 above jealousy1 manifests pure
 love1 has abandoned all that is        
transitory1 has acquired perfect        
understanding1 has seen the recompense  
of the next world1 is secure against    
remorse1 fears no man1 does none  any   
harm and remains himself unmolested4    
,and the more ,i pondered over          
asceticism the more ,i yearned for it so
 that at last ,i earnestly thought  of  
becoming an ascetic4    ,sidenote3 ,the 
trials of an anchorite3 the greedy dog4 
,but then apprehension came upon me that

 ,i should not be able to support  the  
life of a hermit and that the ordinary  
way in which ,i had grown up  would     
prove an hindrance4 ,i was not sure     
that1 should ,i renounce the  world and 
adopt asceticism1 ,i should not prove   
too feeble for it4  ,moreover1 should ,i
 give up such good works as ,i had      
previously performed  in the hope of    
salvation1 ,i should be in the position 
of the dog who  with the bone in his    
mouth was going along a river4 ,he saw  
his  reflection in the water1 suddenly  
dashed forward to seize it and          
consequently let fall what he had in the
 mouth without securing what he  wanted 
to get4 ,so ,i grew uneasy regarding the
 recluse's life and was  afraid lest ,i 
should fail to bear it and thought      
therefore rather to  continue the career
 of my life4    ,sidenote3 ,worldly     
,monastic life4    ,sidenote3 ,a series 
of similes4    ,however1 it occurred to 
me to compare the discomforts and       
straits of  monasticism1 which ,i feared

 ,i should be unable to support1 with   
the  wants of those who remain in the   
world4 ,then it became clear to me that 
all the joys and pleasures of the world 
turn to discomforts and bring  sorrow4  
,for the world is like salt water4 ,the 
more one drinks of it the  more thirsty 
one becomes2 like a bone found by a dog 
on which he still  sniffs the flavour of
 flesh1 he bites to get at it but only  
to tear the  flesh of his teeth and make
 his mouth bleed and the more he        
struggles  the more he makes it bleed2  
like the vulture that has found a piece 
of  flesh1 it attracts other birds in a 
flock so that for a long time it is  in 
trouble and flies till at last1 quite   
exhausted1 it drops its prey2  like a   
pot filled with honey and with poison at
 the bottom1 he who eats  of it has a   
short enjoyment but at last death by    
venom2 like a dream  which rejoices the 
sleeper who finds when he awakes his joy
 vanished2  like lightning that brings  
brilliance for a moment but quickly     

disappears1 he who builds his hope upon 
it abides in darkness2 like the  silk   
worm the more it spins itself into the  
silk the more impossible it  finds to   
come out4    ,sidenote3 ,more internal  
struggle4    ,after ,i had pondered thus
 ,i once more proposed to my soul to    
elect  asceticism and had yearning for  
it4 ,nevertheless ,i opposed it with3   
,it  will not do that ,i should seek    
refuge from the world in asceticism when
  ,i think of the evils of the world and
 then again seek refuge in the  world   
from asceticism when ,i consider the    
privations and discomforts of  the      
latter4 ,i continued in a state of      
prolonged vacillation without firm      
determination like the ,kazi of ,merv   
who at first heard one party and        
decided in his favour and against the   
other and then heard the other and  gave
 judgment in favour of the latter as    
against the first4 ,and when  again ,i  
reflected upon the frightful discomforts
 and straits of  monasticism ,i said1   

,how trifling it is all in comparison   
with eternal  peace4 ,and then once more
 thinking of the joys of the world ,i   
exclaimed1  ,how bitter and pernicious  
they are which lead to perpetual        
perdition and  its horrors2 how can a   
man not regard as sweet the little      
bitterness  which is succeeded by sweet 
that endures and how can a man not      
regard as  bitter a bit of sweet that   
ends in greater and abiding bitterness8 
,if it  was offered to a man that he    
should live a hundred years but that    
every  day he should be hacked to pieces
 and should be called to life again the 
following day and so on1 provided that  
at the close of the century he  should  
be delivered from the torture and pain  
and be in security and  delight1 he     
would account as nothing the whole      
years4 ,how can a man then  not bear the
 few days of asceticism1 the            
inconveniences of which are  succeeded  
by much that is beautiful8 ,and we know 
that the entire world  bears privation  

and torment and that man from his origin
 as foetus till  the end of his days is 
subject to one suffering after another4 
,moreover1  we find the following in    
books of medicine4    ,sidenote3 ,man in
 embryo3 his torments till and after    
death4    ,sidenote3 ,tribulations of   
human existence4    ,when the liquid1 of
 which the perfect child is to be built1
 enters the  uterus of the woman1 and   
mixes itself with her liquid substance  
and her  blood it becomes thick and     
pulpy4 ,next the liquid is stirred by a 
wind  and becomes like sour milk and    
later on hard like curdled milk4 ,after 
a  certain number of days the individual
 members become separate4 ,if it is  a  
man child its face is turned to the back
 of the mother2 if it is a  female it is
 turned towards the belly4 ,in the      
foetus the hands are on  the cheeks and 
the chin is on the knee4 ,it is all     
bundled up in the  foetus as if it was  
thrust into a pouch4 ,it breathes       
through a narrow  opening4 ,each member 

is bound by a chord4 ,above it is the   
heat and the  pressure of the mother's  
womb2 below are darkness and            
constriction4 ,it  is tied with a piece 
of its navel to that of its mother1     
sucks through  it and lives upon her    
food and drink4 ,in this position it    
remains in  gloom and confinement till  
the day of birth4 ,when that day comes a
 wind  acquires control of the womb1    
that child acquires strength to rise1   
turns the head towards the opening and  
experiences in this confinement  the    
pain of one forced into a distressing   
torture4 ,should it fall to the  ground 
or be touched only by a breath of wind  
or should it come in  contact with one's
 hands it feels greater pain1 than a    
person that is  flayed alive4 ,the new  
born babe then suffers all manner of    
torment4 ,when  it is hungry it cannot  
ask for food2 thirsty1 for drink2 when  
in pain it  cannot call for help4       
,besides it is lifted up1 laid down1    
wrapped up1  swathed1 washed and rubbed4

 ,when it is laid to sleep on the back  
it  cannot turn4 ,again so long as it is
 given the suck it is subjected to  all 
manner of other tortures4 ,when it is   
finally delivered from these1  it is    
liable to those of education and has    
then to suffer a great deal1  the       
brusqueness of the teacher1 the         
unpleasantness of the instruction1  the 
disgust at writing4 ,next he has his    
rich portion of medicine1 diet1  aches  
and illnesses4 ,when he has outgrown    
these1 he is troubled with  wife1 child 
and property and is pulled about by     
covetuous ambition and  is exposed to   
the peril of longing and desires4 ,all  
this while he is  menaced by his four   
internal enemies1 gall1 blood1 bile and 
wind2 and  furthermore1 mortal poison1  
snakes that bite1 animals of prey and   
reptiles1 the alternation of heat and   
cold1 rain and storm as well as  finally
 the various plagues of age1 if at all  
he survives those4 ,but  should he have 
nothing to fear from all this and were  

he secure with  regard to these         
calamities1 when he thinks of the moment
 when death must  come and he musk give 
up the world1 what a miserable plight is
 his1 at  the thought of the hour he has
 to separate himself from family1       
friends1 and relations and all that is  
precious on the earth1 and when  he     
reflects that there is in store for him 
after death fearful horrors8  ,then must
 he be considered of feeble intellect1  
neglectful and a suitor  for misfortune 
should he do nothing for his soul1      
should he not employ  all art in behalf 
of the soul1 and should he not renounce 
altogether the  pleasures and errors of 
the world which till then had seduced   
him4    ,sidenote3 ,eulogy of the       
reigning ,monarch4    ,sidenote3 ,fallen
 on evil days4    ,sidenote3 ,how the   
world's misery outweighs its joys4      
,but this holds especially good of      
modern times which have become worn  out
 and fragile1 which appear pure but are 
turbid4 ,god has given the  king good   

fortune and success4 ,he is equally     
circumspect1 mighty1  magnanimous1      
profound examiner1 upright1 humane1     
liberal1 a lover of  truth1 grateful1 of
 broad comprehension1 mindful of right  
and duty1  indefatigable1 strenuous1    
with insight1 helpful1 serene of mind1  
intelligent1 thoughtful1 gentle1        
sympathetic1 kind1 one who knows man    
and things1 friend of learning and the  
learned1 of the good and of  benevolent 
people1 but severe to the oppressor1 not
 timid1 nor backward1  dexterous in     
granting in abundance to his subjects   
what they desire and  averting from them
 what they do not like4 ,yet we see that
 our days are  retrogressive in every   
way4 ,it is as if man were divested of  
truth1 as  if that should be absent     
which one sadly misses and as if the    
harmful  were there1 as if the good were
 withering and the evil flourishing1 as 
if the sinners were proceeding with a   
smile and the righteous receding  in    
tears2 as if knowledge was entombed and 

irrationality propagated1 as  if        
wretched intent was spreading and       
nobility of thought restricted2 as  if  
love was cut off and malice and hatred  
had become favourites2 as if  rectitude 
were divested of prosperity which had   
betaken itself to the  malefactor2 as if
 craftiness were awake and truth were   
asleep2 as if  mendacity were fruitful  
and veracity was left in the cold2 as if
 those  in power held before them the   
duty to act according to their own      
inclinations and to violate law1 as if  
the oppressed were in dejection  and    
made way for the tyrant2 as if          
greediness on all sides had opened  its 
jaws and swallowed all that was far and 
near2 as if there was no  trace left of 
contentment2 as if the wicked had       
exalted themselves to  ,heaven and had  
made the good sink into the ground2 as  
if nobility of  mind were thrown from   
the loftiest pinnacle to most abysmal   
depths1 as  if turpitude were in honour 
and authority and as if sovereignty had 

been  transferred from the exalted to   
the mean--in fact as if the world in the
  fullness of its joy were crying1 ,i   
have concealed the good and brought  the
 evil to light4 ,when1 however1 ,i      
reflected on the world and its          
condition and on the fact that man1     
although he is the noblest and  foremost
 of creatures in it1 is still in spite  
of his eminent position1  subject to one
 misery after another and that this is  
his notorious  peculiarity so that      
whoever has even a tittle of reason must
 be  convinced that a human being is    
unable to help himself and to exert for 
his salvation1--this greatly astonished 
me1 as further consideration  told me   
that he is debarred from salvation only 
because of the small  miserable         
enjoyments of smell1 taste1 sight1      
hearing and feeling of  which he may    
receive a fraction or enjoy a particle  
but which is  insignificant being so    
transient4 ,he is1 however1 so much     
taken up with  it that on its account he

 does not trouble himself for the       
salvation of  his soul4    ,then ,i     
looked for a similitude for this        
behaviour of human beings and  found the
 following3    ,a certain person was    
fleeing from a danger into a well and   
suspended  himself by clinging to two   
branches which grew on its edge1 his    
feet  striking against something which  
supported them4 ,when he looked round   
there were four serpents which were     
projecting their heads from their       
holes4 ,as he looked into the bottom of 
the well he noticed a dragon with  its  
jaws open expecting him to fall his     
prey4 ,and as he turned his head  up to 
the branches he observed at their roots 
a black and a white mouse  which were   
ceaselessly gnawing at both4 ,while he  
was contemplating the  situation and    
casting about for a means of escape he  
descried near him a  hollow with bees   
that had made some honey4 ,this he      
tasted and he was so  much absorbed in  
its deliciousness that he no more       

thought of the  condition he was in and 
that he must devise some contrivance of 
escape4  ,he became oblivious of the    
fact that his feet rested against four  
serpents and that he did not know which 
would attack him first1 forgot  that the
 two mice were without cessation        
nibbling at the boughs by which  he was 
hanging1 and that as soon as they had   
gnawed them through he  would drop into 
the jaws of the dragon4 ,and so in his  
heedlessness he  yielded to the         
enjoyment of the meed till he perished4 
,i compared the well with the world     
which is brimful of all manner of  harm 
and terrible perils1 the four snakes    
with the four humours which  constitute 
the physical basis of man1 but which1   
should they be excited1  prove mortal   
poison2 the branches to life1 the black 
and white mice to  night and day which  
in perpetual alternation consume our    
lifetime2 the  dragon with death        
inevitable2 the honey to the particle of
 joy which man  derives from his senses 

of smell1 taste1 sight1 hearing and     
feeling1 but  which makes him oblivious 
of himself and all his circumstances and
 decoy  away from the path to           
emancipation4 ,so circumstanced ,i found
 myself1 and  endeavoured to conduct    
myself with as much rectitude as        
possible in the  hope once again to     
experience a time when ,i should acquire
 a guide for  myself and help for my    
cause4 ,i remained in this stage till ,i
 returned  from ,india to my homeland   
after ,i had made a copy of this book   
and a  few more4          ,,appendix    
,,iv    ,,the ,,trial ,,of ,,afshin44   
,a ,,disguised ,,zoroastrian ,,general4 
,afshin was a ,zoroastrian at heart4    
,his trial and condemnation are         
referred to by ,browne1 ,literary       
,history of ,persia4 ,i take the account
  direct from ,tabari4 ,it is to be     
found also in ,ibn ,athir and ,ibn      
,khaldun4  ,the legal procedure reveals 
prominently the condition under which   
professed non-,moslems lived--religious 

liberty was granted to them4 ,note  that
 it was possible to chastise            
ecclesiastical officers like ,imams and 
,muezzins because of their interference 
with the religious practices of         
non-,moslems4 ,observe the part played  
by a ,mobed at a criminal trial         
conducted according to ,muhammadan      
usages4 ,the ,zoroastrian priest1 who   
subsequently embraced ,islam1 comes     
forward to give evidence against the    
most puissant but covert co-religionist 
of his times4    ,it has been related by
 ,harun son of ,isa1 son of ,mansur as  
follows3--,i  was present in the house  
of ,muatisim and there were there ,ahmad
 bin ,ali  ,dawud and ,ishaq bin        
,ibrahim son of ,masab and ,muhammad bin
 ,abdal ,maliq al  ,zayyad4 ,they then  
brought ,afshin who was yet not in      
rigorous  imprisonment1 and there were  
present people who were prepared to     
cause  ,afshin to shed tears4 ,there was
 nobody in the house belonging to any   
high position except the sons of        

,mansur1 for1 the people had left4      
,those  present were ,muhammad bin      
,abdal ,maliq al ,zayyad and there were 
,mazyar1  the ruler of ,tabaristan1 the 
,mobed1 and the ,marzban son of ,urkesh1
 one  of the chieftains of ,sughd1 and  
two people from among the ,sughdians4   
,then ,muhammad ,ibn ,abdal ,maliq      
called the two people whose clothes were
  torn and asked them how they were4    
,they then uncovered their backs which  
were torn of the flesh4 ,muhammad       
turning to ,afshin asked ,do you know   
these8 ,yes1 this man is the ,mauzzin   
and this1 one is the ,imam who made  a  
mosque at ,ashrushana1 and ,i struck    
each of them a thousand lashes1 and     
that was because there was a covenant   
between myself and the kings of  ,sughd 
including a clause to the effect that ,i
 should leave each  community to its own
 religion4 ,but these two people        
attacked a shrine  which had images in  
it1 a shrine which was at ,ashrushna1   
and they took  out the images and turned

 the shrine into a mosque4 ,i therefore 
struck  them one thousand lashes for    
this transgression of theirs4    ,then  
,muhammad asked ,afshin1 ,what is the   
book which you have got which  you have 
adorned with gold and gems and brocade8 
,its contents are  impious with         
reference to ,god8 ,afshin replied1     
,this is a book which ,i  have inherited
 from my father and it contains the     
manners of the  ,persians1 and as       
regards the impiety to which you refer  
,i take advantage  of the book in so far
 as the manners are concerned and ,i    
leave all the  rest4 ,and ,i found it   
bejewelled and as there was no occasion 
for me to  take off the gems ,i left it 
as it was just as you have left with    
yourself the book ,kalileh and ,dimneh  
and the ,book of ,mazdak in your  house4
 ,for ,i don't think the book would make
 me lose my ,islam4    ,then came       
forward the ,mobed and referring to     
,afshin said1 ,this man is  used to     
eating animals that have been strangled 

and he suggested the  eating of it to me
 alleging that the flesh was more fresh 
than the flesh  of slaughtered animals4 
,and he used to kill a black goat every 
,wednesday  and tearing it up with his  
sword he would pass through the two     
halves1  and he would then eat the      
flesh4 ,and one day he told me1 ',i have
 entered  this community ,islam with    
reference to every detail of theirs     
which ,i  hate so that ,i have eaten of 
olive oil1 have ridden on camels1 have  
put  on the ,arabian shoes1 but although
 ,i have gone to this extent ,i have not
  in any way been injured and no harm   
has come to me3 nor have ,i had  myself 
circumcised4'    ,then ,afshin said ,let
 me know as regards this man who is     
speaking these  words whether he is a   
staunch believer in his own religion4   
,now the  ,mobed was a ,magian who      
subsequently received ,islam at the     
instance of  the ,khalif ,mutawakkil and
 repented of his previous belief4 ,they 
replied1  ,no4    ,afshin then said1    

,what is the meaning of your adducing   
the evidence of  a man who is not firm  
in his own faith8 ,then turning to the  
,mobed  ,afshin said1 ,was there between
 your house and my house any door or any
  hole through which you could look at  
me and learn my movements8    ,no1 said 
the ,mobed4    ,afshin then asked1 ,was 
,i not then introducing you into my     
private  affairs and informing you      
regarding my ,persian nationality and my
  inclination towards it and towards the
 people of the race8    ,yes1 said the  
,mobed4    ,said ,afshin1 ,now you are  
not firm in your own religion1 and you  
are not  faithful to your promise when  
you have revealed the secret confided by
  me to you4    ,then the ,mobed        
withdrew and the ,marzban turned up4    
,afshin was asked  whether he knew him1 
and said ,no4    ,then the ,marzban was 
asked whether he knew ,afshin and said  
,yes4 ,this is  ,afshin4    ,afshin was 
then told that this was the ,marzban and
 the ,marzban turning  to ,afshin said2 

,oh cutthroat1 why do you prevaricate   
and shuffle8    ,afshin said1 ,oh you   
long-bearded one1 what are you talking8 
,the ,marzban said ,how do people under 
your jurisdiction address you when  they
 write to you8    ,afshin replied2 ,just
 in the way they used to write to my    
father and  grandfather4    ,then tell  
us the way4    ,no1 ,i won't4    ,do not
 the people of ,ashrushna write to you  
in such and such a way8    ,now1 does   
this not mean in ,arabic1 'to the high  
,god from his slave so  and so8'    ,ibn
 ,khaldun is here clearer than ,tabari4 
,the term used was ,khoday  which in    
,persian meant ,lord1 applicable equally
 to ,god and any high  dignitary4 ,the  
original ',pahlavi' title of the        
,shahnameh was  ,khodaynameh4    ,yes4  
,muhammad ,ibn ,abdal ,maliq asked upon 
this1 ,do they tolerate such a  thing8  
,for what greater blasphemy would be    
left to ,pharaoh to commit who          
suggested to his people ',i am your ,god
 the ,highest4'8    ,afshin replied1    

,this was the custom of the people in my
 father's and  grandfather's times and  
it was also the custom with me before ,i
 embraced  ,islam4 ,and then ,i did not 
like that ,i should lower myself before 
them4  ,for then ,i should have lost    
their allegiance and the obedience that 
they  owed me4    ,upon this ,ishaq ,ibn
 ,ibrahim ,ibn ,musab said1 ,fie1 fie on
 you1 ,hyder4    ,afshin is sometimes   
referred to as ,hyder4    ,then turned  
up ,mazyar the chief of ,tabaristan and 
,afshin was asked  whether he knew him4 
,he said ,no4    ,mazyar was asked if he
 knew ,afshin4    ,then they told him   
that this was ,mazyar4    ,yes1 ,i know 
him now4    ,did you ever have          
correspondence with him8 ,no4    ,then  
turning to the ,marzban they asked1 ,did
 he ever write to you8    ,yes1 said    
,mazyar1 ,his brother ,khash used to    
write to my brother  ,quhyar to the     
effect that this splendid religion of   
theirs will have  help from nobody      
except himself1 ,quhyar and ,babak4     

,in the sequel ,tabari relates how when 
,afshin's house was searched1  after he 
was starved to death1 among other       
incriminating articles a book  was      
discovered sumptuously bound and        
bedecked with gems which related1  to   
the old faith of ,iran4                 
,,appendix ,v    ,,noeldeke',s          
,,introduction ,,to ,,tabari4      ,the 
,arabs have long been credited with     
maintaining learning and  civilisation  
in general when ,europe was slumbering  
in its dark ages4  ,history as a science
 was rarely known even to the gifted    
,hindus4 ,the  ,arabs cultivated it with
 peculiar enthusiasm4 ,wustenfeld has   
collected  the lives of #eij historians1
 the first of whom died in the year #ej1
 and  the last was born in #ajfa ,a4,h4 
,but it is now proved beyond all doubt  
that many of these writers were         
,persians who employed the ,arabic      
language and that the art of ,arab      
annalists had its root in the archives  
of the ,sasanians4 ,we owe this         

discovery to ,goldziher and ,von        
,kremmer in  the first instance1 and to 
,brockelmann1 ,browne1 ,blochet and     
,huart who  have done ample justice to  
the ,iranian element in ,arab culture4  
,one of  the best of these histories is 
by ,tabari4 ,noeldeke translated in     
#ahgi1  the portion relating to the     
,sasanians into ,german1 and added      
footnotes  to his translation1 which are
 a mine of information on pre-,moslem   
,persia4 ,the introduction which he     
wrote to his translation is equally     
valuable especially for the light it    
throws on the sources of ,firdausi4     
,the following is a translation of that 
,german introduction by ,noeldeke4      
,tabari was a most prolific author and  
is reported to have written daily  forty
 sheets for forty years4 ,he was of pure
 ,iranian descent ,g4,k4,n4             
,sidenote3 ,tabari's method4    ,abu    
,jafar ,muhammed bin ,jarir born in the 
winter of #hci at ,amul not far  from   
the ,caspian ,sea in the ,persian       

,province of ,tabaristan1 hence called  
,tabari1 and who died in ,baghdad on the
 #agth ,february #ibc1 wrote many1      
partly very large1 works in the ,arabic 
language1 among them an extremely       
voluminous chronicle1 which reaches from
 the creation down to nearly the  close 
of his life4 ,tabari1 mainly occupied   
with theological tradition1  was no man 
of original research or of historical   
acumen even in the  sense applied to a  
few other ,persian scholars in those    
centuries4 ,his  annals are a           
compilation1 a mass of rich material put
 together with  extraordinary industry4 
,he does not work into unity the various
 versions  in his divergent sources1 but
 simply brings them up in order one     
after  another4 ,but it is just this    
circumstance which considerably enhances
 in  our eyes the value of the work2 for
 in this way the older reports          
themselves are preserved more faithfully
 than if the chronicler had  laboured to
 reconcile them one with the other4     

,sidenote3 ,abounds in extracts from    
,arab and ,iranian predecessors1 but    
does not mention his sources4    ,the   
principal value of ,tabari's compilation
 consists in the extremely  exhaustive  
presentation of the history of ,islam   
from the first  appearance of the       
,prophet2 no other ,arabic work in this 
respect can  compare with his4 ,the     
pre-,islamic history comprises1 may be1 
a twentieth  portion of the whole work  
and gives a very groat deal of what we  
would  rather be without4 ,of the       
highest moment1 however1 is the         
tolerably  detailed section on the      
history of the ,sasanides and their     
times  embodied in it1 and whose ,german
 translation forms the text of our book4
  ,this section goes back partly to good
 ,arabic records and mostly1 at  least  
mediately1 to very important ancient    
,persian sources4 ,but the  stories from
 the mythological and historical        
traditions which appear  scattered in   
,tabari in proceeding sections have a   

cognate origin4 ,if the  criticism of   
the sources is here very much           
facilitated on the one hand1  because   
these orientals where they excerpt love 
to adhere1 as far as  possible1 to the  
letter of their models or sources1 it is
 on the other1  rendered difficult      
because ,tabari does not mention his    
immediate  authorities4 ,only in reports
 of theological interest1 to which the  
whole  of the history of the growth of  
,islam belongs1 he proceeds to indicate 
his sources with precision2 otherwise he
 cites at the best an old  authority    
come down to him only obliquely1 and in 
most cases none at  all4 ,throughout the
 ,persian history he never names an     
authority1 barring  ,hisham1 whom he    
quotes here and there and who was an    
acknowledged  authority in another      
province of tradition4    ,sidenote3    
,story of ,persia based on indigenous   
original work4    ,sidenote3 ,occasional
 identity of ,firdausi and ,tabari4     
,the story of ,persia from the first    

mythical ,kings to the last of the      
,sasanides exhibits in ,tabari1 as in   
allied ,arabic works1 a certain         
similarity of conception and            
presentation which leads to the         
assumption  of an indigenous original   
work at least respecting a very large   
portion4  ,now the ,shahnameh of the    
great poet ,firdausi1 a national epic of
 the  kind which no other people        
possess1 while it on one hand1 apart    
from the  poetic license indulged in by 
,firdausi1 contains much that is either 
not  found at all or is essentially     
differently related in ,arab writers2 on
  the other1 considerably accords with  
those ,arab annalists in the order1  in 
the whole structure1 and in the details 
of the narrative4 ,indeed the  poet     
often reproduces almost the identical   
phraseology of the historian4  ,but now 
since according to both tradition and   
internal grounds  ,firdausi's bases were
 not ,arabic books1 the coincidence must
 be  explained from a common ultimate   

source4 ,the original work has been     
reflected to us in ,tabari and other    
,arabs as well as ,firdausi through a   
series of intermediate texts4 ,to judge 
by the express statements and           
suggestions as also by various features 
in style and phraseology and  further by
 all that we are aware of touching the  
circumstances of the  literature we can 
say with certainty that1 that original  
work like all  other ,persian narrative 
productions of the ,sasanides and of the
 period  of ,arab conquest was composed 
in the written1 language of this period1
  the ,pahlavi4 ,the most important     
connected presentment of ,persian       
history  in ,pahlavi to which our       
reports go back is no doubt the ,khoday 
,nameh1  i4e41 the ,book of ,lords a    
title which answers to the subsequent   
,shah  ,nameh or ,book of ,kings4       
,hamza mentions that name4 ,the prose   
introduction to ,ferdausi says that  the
 ,book of ,kings was written first of   
all at the instance of ,khushrau  ,i    

,anoshirwan1 but that the complete story
 was compiled only under  ,yazdegerd    
,,iii by the ,dihkan ,danishwar4 ,this  
work which it would not be  too bold to 
identify with the ,koday ,nameh began   
with the primeval  king1 ,gayomarth1 and
 reached down to the termination of the 
reign of  ,khushrau ,,ii1 surnamed      
,parwez4 ,although this introduction to 
,ferdausi  dates but from the fifteenth 
century1 and as for details is          
disfigured  by inaccuracies and         
fictions1 ,i attach weight to what it   
indicates  respecting the time of its   
composition4 ,in fact the concord of the
  narrative in the various sources      
reaches down to the death of ,parwez and
  then abruptly ceases2 while there are 
no vestiges to demonstrate that  the    
completion of the original work was     
brought about subsequent to the  victory
 of the ,arabs4 ,and the legitimistic   
nature of the story ,is  especially in  
keeping with the times when usurpation  
and insurrections  of all sorts had run 

their course1 and when the people looked
 forward  with1 the inauguration of the 
rule of the youthful grandson1 of       
,parwez1  who was crowned at the sacred 
place where the dynasty took its rise1  
to  an era of prosperity to the ancient 
monarchy1--a hope which was  fearfully  
crushed with the loss of the battle of  
,kadisiya towards the  close of #fcg4   
,again the replies made by the          
imprisoned king which have  been        
reproduced in different sources suit the
 times of the ,yezegerd who  descended  
from ,khusrau ,,ii and not ,sheroe1     
,khusrau's brilliant career  despite its
 shady side strongly contrasted with the
 period ushered in by  the patricide4 ,a
 small piece of writing which depicts   
the first stormy  years of ,khusrau's   
domination in a romantic fashion seems  
to have arisen  about the same time4    
,i am less certain about the name       
,danishwar4 ,it was probably an         
adjective  signifying possessed of      
knowledge4 ,it was easy for anyone who  

knew  from ,firdausi that the landed    
nobility called the ,dihkan constituted 
the  peculiar custodians of national    
lore to name a learned ,dihkan as the   
collector of the stones of kings4       
,the compilation prepared at the time   
had undoubtedly drawn upon written      
documents without which ,it would have  
been impossible to give minute          
particulars of a long by-gone past4     
,besides the brief notices  communicated
 by the ,syrian ,sergius to ,agathias   
from the ,basilika  apomnemoneiumata are
 in the main in unison with our         
,arabo-,persian  stories4 ,thus then in 
,khushro's time there existed a general 
survey of  the history of ,persia more  
or less in an official version4 ,but    
otherwise  there is no need to lay      
stress on the mention of ,khushrau here1
 for all  manner of things beneficial   
and good are ascribed to this king4     
,sidenote3 ,nature of the ,khoday       
,nameh4    ,the book of kings contains1 
as we said1 the story of ,persia from   

the  creation of the world to the fall  
of the last purely national  domination4
 ,it made no distinction between wholly 
mythical1  semi-fabulous1 and fully     
historical dynasts1 so that the ,arabs  
and  ,persians who drew upon it never   
suspected that e4g41 ,hoshang and       
,rustam  are not such historical persons
 as ,shahpur ,i and ,bahram ,chobin4    
,but in  the material itself we notice a
 conspicuous difference4 ,the mythical  
tales which in their crude nascent forms
 were already there at the  period of   
the ,avesta were in course of time      
richly developed and under  the         
,sasanides were no doubt universally    
known4 ,to these were joined            
ecclesiastical speculation and          
traditions concerning the genesis of the
  world1 civilisation and the           
legislation of ,zoroaster4 ,there were  
also  several genealogical trees4 ,in   
all these at the most a few proper names
  were historical4 ,of the empires of   
the ,medes and of ,persians proper this 

tradition had no knowledge4 ,it is      
doubtful if it contained even quite a   
feeble reflex of the last days of the   
,achaeminides4 ,on to this ancient      
autochthonous tradition was immediately 
joined the story of the last  ,darius   
and ,alexander emanating from a foreign 
source1 the ,greek romance  of          
,alexander4 ,not more than a few names  
was all that was preserved of  the long 
period covering the ,macedonian and the 
,parthian supremacy4 ,with  the         
,sasanides the national reminiscences   
became clearer4 ,round the  founder of  
the dynasty were accreted1 on the one   
hand1 legends wholly  fabulous and on   
the other1 such as embodied excellent   
historical data4  ,but the latter seem  
to be inadequately represented in the   
main work1 the  ,khodayname4 ,again very
 few particulars were known of the      
reigns of the  succeeding sovereigns    
down to ,yezdegerd ,i4 ,in the chapters 
which  correspond to those of the old   
,book of ,kings just this want of actual

  information1 it seems1 the compilers  
strove to veil behind rhetorical        
accounts of scenes of homage done to the
 rulers1 imperial speeches from  the    
throne1 etc4 ,for the following ages on 
there was1 in general1 good1  partly    
very authentic information4 ,but this   
entire presentment did not  concern     
itself solely with veracity4 ,the       
,iranians who from very remote          
antiquity extravagantly lauded truth1   
had in reality never any great  sense of
 it4 ,the ,khoday ,nameh and kindred    
productions were unfairly  biassed and  
rhetorical4 ,the ornamental and         
figurative ingredients are  indicated   
even by the ,arabic reproductions1      
though the latter are  greatly          
condensed4 ,a classic testimony to it   
has been kindly  communicated to me by  
,baron ,von ,rosen which is a passage   
from a  ,petersberg manuscript of       
,albayan ,wattabyin of ,jahiz in which  
the  ,shuubiya or the ,persians1 who1   
though ,muslims placed their nation     

above  the ,arabs say3 ,and he who is   
interested in reason1 fine culture1     
knowledge of ranks1 examples and        
penalties1 in elegant expressions and   
superlative thoughts1 let him cast a    
glance at the ,history 7more  properly  
the ,vitae7 of ,kings4 ,history of the  
,kings1 ,siyar-ul ,muluk1  is the title 
of the ,arabic rendering of the ,book of
 ,kings in ,pahlavi4  ,compare likewise 
,hamza's remarks on the works on        
,persian history4 ,i have  laboured to  
show the partiality of the ,persian     
tradition in the  footnotes4 ,the       
narrative is conceived in a monarchical 
and legitimistic  spirit1 but equally   
all along from the view point of the    
superior  nobility and the clergy4 ,add 
to this the exertions to cry up as much 
as  possible the glory of ,persia which 
sometimes produces a strange effect4    
,moreover1 there must have been no lack 
of contradictions as to facts as  well  
as respecting estimates of personal     
character which was inevitable  owing to

 the employment of varying sources4     
,nevertheless a work like  this written 
under the ,sasanides and familiar with  
the state of things  obtaining in the   
empire and more or less of an official  
nature1 must  have been an admirable    
fount of history4 ,there was hardly ever
 a better  presentment of the story of  
this house than the ,khoday-,nameh4     
,i have translated the entire passage   
from the since printed text4 ,see  p4   
#agj4--;,g4,k4,n4    ,since1 barring the
 small book treating of ,ardeshir's     
adventures1 no  original ,pahlavi       
document in the domain of historical or 
romantic  literature has descended to us
 and even the ,arabic recensions made   
directly from the original general      
history in ,pahlavi have perished1 we   
are altogether left in uncertainty      
touching many most important points4    
,we cannot1 for instance1 ascertain     
whether alongside of the  ,khoday-,nameh
 there existed also other general       
continuous narrations or  whether the   

deviations1 which are for the most part 
trifling1 in some  cases of great       
moment1 already existed in the ,pahlavi 
work or are  traceable to various       
recensions of that book4 ,it would not  
be rash1 to  assume that some copies of 
the work contained additional matter    
taken  from other ,pahlavi books like   
the ,romance of ,bahram4 ,bahram the    
high  priest of the city of ,shapur     
collected1 according to ,hamza1 more    
than #bj  manuscripts of the            
,khoday-,nameh and from their divergence
 made out  another independent          
recension4 ,musa ,ibn ,isa ,kesravi     
complains of the  variants in the copies
 of the work2 the latter author who     
speaks of  defects in translation has in
 view only the ,arabic redactions4 ,the 
text1  however1 of ,tabari1 at all      
events and more so a comparison of      
,tabari and  other ,arabs with one      
another and with ,firdausi exhibits that
 entire  sections of the ,history of    
,kings were already in the ,pahlavi     

original in  essentially different      
shapes4 ,otherwise1 it would not be     
possible1 for  instance1 that where     
,tabari offers two different versions1  
one should  harmonise with ,eutychius   
and ,ibn ,kotaiba 7derived from the     
translation  of ,ibn ,mukaffa7 and the  
other should agree with the ,arab       
,yakubi and  often with ,firdausi1 who  
goes back to the ,pahlavi text not      
directly but  mediately through         
compositions in modern ,persian4 ,it is 
very important  for a knowledge of the  
history that thus we have at our command
 all  manner of dissonant reports about 
the ,sasanide epoch4 ,but we have to    
observe all the same that the character 
and the tendency of the several         
versions are almost all along consistent
 and further more that often we  have   
more recensions than one which differ   
but little and which have one  and the  
same ground-work or prototype4 ,the     
question whether this  difference is    
older or younger than the ,khoday-,nameh

 has more literary  than historical     
significance4    ,sidenote3 ,translation
 of ,khoday-,nameh into ,arabic4 ,its   
general  fidelity to the original4      
,sidenote3 ,the ,arabic translation may 
be pieced together from various         
sources4    ,we should decide all this  
with much more certainty did we possess 
but  one direct rendering made from the 
,pahlavi into ,arabic4 ,above all we    
have to deplore the loss of ,ibn        
,mukaffa's history of ,persian ,kings   
which  is always assigned the first     
place among translations of the ,persian
  ,book of ,kings by ,hamza and other   
authorities4 ,this distinguished man who
  only late in life exchanged the faith 
of his forbears for that of ,islam1  and
 who never professed the latter with    
over much zeal1 translated a  series of 
,pahlavi writings into ,arabic including
 the ,khoday-,nameh4 ,he  was a         
courtier1 and passed for a good ,arabic 
poet and one of the best  rhetorical    
writers of his time4 ,the famous ,wazir 

,ibn ,mukla counted him  among the ten  
most eloquent men4 ,he must consequently
 have striven to  suit his rendering of 
the book of ,persian kings to the taste 
of his  contemporaries4 ,but we have no 
sufficient grounds to assume that he    
introduced arbitrary and material       
alterations into his translations or    
even that he greatly elaborated the     
rhetorical passages of the original     
text or invested them with an altogether
 different garb4 ,such a  suspicion is  
contradicted by the coincidences with   
other sources which1  like ,firdausi1   
are independent of him4 ,there is little
 probability of  ,ibn ,mukaffa's work   
being again brought to light in its     
entirety4 ,but on  the other hand1 it   
will indeed be possible to gather       
together in course  of time more and    
more stray passages belonging to the    
book2 though it is  to be feared1       
unfortunately that these fragments will 
prove more to be  preserved as efforts  
of rhetoric than because of their       

intrinsic value4  ,a few extracts of    
this nature we find in ,ibn ,kotaiba's  
,oyun-al ,akhbar4  ,among these         
citations which ,i owe to the goodness  
of ,rosen1 there is one  tolerably long 
on the death of ,peroz4 ,now the same   
fragment1 little  curtailed1 is in the  
chronicle of ,said bin ,batrik or       
,eutychius1 the  patriarch of           
,alexandria4 ,we should1 therefore1 be  
inclined from the  first to derive other
 information in ,eutychius on the       
,sasanides from ,ibn  ,mukaffa4 ,and our
 predisposition is supported by the     
circumstance that  the history of the   
dynasty as given in a manual by the same
 ,ibn ,kotaiba  and which is styled     
,kitab al ,maarif1 brief as it is1      
betrays as in the  instance of the reign
 of ,peroz1 all through such an harmony 
with  ,eutychius that here two          
independent authors must necessarily    
have drawn  upon one and the same       
original2 and that original source can  
be no other  than the production of ,ibn

 ,mukaffa4 ,the abstract in ,eutychius  
is very  unequal being in some parts    
exhaustive1 in others much abridged4    
,the  narrations as preserved in        
,tabari1 which correspond to the        
statements in  ,eutychius and ,ibn      
,kotaiba and which consequently go back 
to ,ibn ,mukaffa1  are of a similar     
nature though ,tabari gives in addition 
other parallel  reports4 ,tabari1       
however1 did not himself use ,ibn       
,mukaffa's work1 but  for the ,history  
of ,persia1 among other authorities1    
employed by  preference a younger work  
which represented another version       
together  with excerts from the former4 
,this can be inferred from the fact that
  the anonymous ,codex ,sprengers #cj1  
which and ,tabari are mutually          
independent1 shows quite the same       
combination of two main sources and so  
far as the section in question goes1 can
 be utilised and treated as a  new      
manuscript of ,tabari4 ,both have relied
 almost to the letter upon the          

presentment which emanated partly from  
,ibn ,mukaffa and partly from  another  
translator with the only difference that
 the anonymous writer is  oftener more  
concise than ,tabari4 ,again the version
 which does not  proceed from ,ibn      
,mukaffa is for the most part in accord 
with the epitome  of the story of the   
,sasanides in the introduction to       
,yakubi's ,history of  the ,abbasides2  
there the excellent author occasionally 
subjoins  extraneous information4 ,more 
often than not this presentment is in   
touch  with ,ferdausi4 ,i am unable to  
aver from whom has originated this other
  recension of the story of the         
,sasanides4 ,we know indeed the names of
 a  number of persons who redacted the  
,history of ,persia1 originally in      
,pahlavi1 for ,arab readers4 ,but though
 we can collect a few notices of  some  
of the authors mentioned1 we know       
nothing in particular about them  and   
are completely in the dark about the    
special nature of their work4  ,all that

 we can postulate as established is that
 they wrote posterior to  ,ibn ,mukaffa4
 ,the latter is always mentioned in the 
first place4 ,muhammad  bin ,jahm who is
 regularly cited next after him and     
bears the surname of  ,bermaki1 was a   
client of the ,barmecides1 who came to  
power a long while  after the death of  
,ibn ,mukaffa4 ,ifc may be supposed that
 they all laid  under contribution the  
production of their celebrated          
predecessor4 ,how  they individually set
 about their work1 whether perhaps some 
of them  tapped non-,persian tradition2 
also1 how far one or other of them      
utilized the novels of which there were 
probably many in ,pahlavi--this  we are 
no longer in a position to determine4   
,again this too remains a  mystery      
whence ,tabari came by most of the      
accounts touching the  ,persians1 which 
are conspicuous by their absence in the 
anonymous ,codex4  ,to clear this whole 
ground it would appear to be expedient  
in the first  place to set apart all    

that for which ,ibn ,mukaffa directly or
 indirectly  is responsible4 ,this ,i   
have done in the footnotes but an       
advance is  possible in this direction4 
,on the other hand1 we must keep        
,ferdausi  steadily before our eyes4    
,whatever in ,tabari and other          
,chroniclers does  not issue from ,ibn  
,mukaffa and is not represented in      
,ferdausi likewise  merits special      
study4    ,sidenote3 ,direct ,sources of
 ,ferdausi4    ,sidenote3 ,the ,persian 
prose ,shahname was not derived from    
,arabic but  ,pahlavi4    ,a superficial
 reading of ,firdausi would engender the
 view that he  obtained his material    
partly from ,pahlavi books direct and   
partly from  the oral communication of  
competent renconteurs4 ,that this is    
only a  deceptive illusion we conclude  
at once from his strong resemblance not 
only in the main features but also in   
the details and the order1 with  ,arab  
writers some of whom were much anterior 
to him4 ,firdausi positively  knew no   

,pahlavi and as for ,arabic he knew next
 to nothing4 ,he did employ  written    
sources preponderatingly if not         
exclusively and these were in  modern   
,persian4 ,his principal authority was1 
according to the  introduction mentioned
 above1 a translation of the old ,book  
of ,kings  which was prepared by ,abu   
,mansur bin ,abdar ,razzak bin ,abdullah
 bin  ,ferrukh4 ,so far our information 
is surely trustworthy4 ,for1 ,biruni    
testifies to a ,shahname by ,abu ,mansur
 bin ,abdar ,razzak of ,tus4 ,according 
to the introduction1 this man was a     
minister of ,yakub bin ,laith ,saffar1  
who was commissioned with the work which
 he accomplished through a  certain     
,sund bin ,mansur ,mamari with the help 
of four competent people  from ,khorasan
 and ,sagistan in #cfj ,a4,h4 ,the      
chronological impossibility  involved in
 the figure is removed by ,mohl who     
emends it to #bfj4 ,yakub  ibn ,laith   
got a foothold in ,khorasan in #bec     
,a4,h4 and reigned till #bfe4  ,still   

this report involves much that is       
incorrect4 ,that the uncouth  warrior   
,yakub who was perpetually camping in   
the battle fields should  have possessed
 a sense for such a literary undertaking
 is extremely  improbable1 though not   
altogether inconceivable4 ,may be1 he   
was actuated  by a political design1 but
 ,abu ,mansur bin ,abdar ,razzak did not
 live  under ,yakub but flourished two  
or three generations later4 ,for he is  
either a brother of ,muhammad bin ,abdar
 ,razzak of ,tus or ,muhammad  himself4 
,the first surmise has the weight of    
greater likelihood in that  the         
,strasburg manuscript calls him once    
,abu ,mansur ,ahmed and ,muhammad  had  
in fact a brother named ,ahmed who      
participated in his political           
manouvres4 ,muhammad was the lord of    
,tus4 ,we hear much about him--how he   
in the years ,a4,d4 #ide-ifj stood up   
now for the ,samanides1 his proper      
overlords1 now for their powerful       
antagonist ,ruknaddin1 the ,buide1 whose

  capital lay in dangerous proximity to 
his territory4 ,in those days when  an  
enthusiasm for ,modern ,persian was     
strongly awakened the enterprize  may   
most appropriately have been taken in   
hand4 ,immediately after the  ,princes  
of ,khorasan planned to cast this prose 
work into poetry2 and  this task was    
first inaugurated by ,dakiki for the    
,samanides and brought  to conclusion by
 ,ferdausi of ,tus1 countryman of ,abu  
,mansur bin ,abdar  ,razzak1 for        
,mahamud of ,ghazna4 ,the name of the   
four people who executed  the work for  
the son of ,abdar ,razzak are all       
genuinely ,persian2 which  indicates    
that they were all adherents of the     
ancient religion and that  they had     
actully a ,pahlavi original before them4
 ,to transfer an ,arabic  version into  
,modern ,persian would not have required
 four men4 ,moreover1  ,firdausi's poem 
occasionally betrays that his sources   
had not flowed to  him through ,arabic4 
,of those men one only is met with      

again1 ,shahzan son  of ,barzin4 ,he is 
mentioned by ,firdausi at the head of   
his account of the  genesis of ,,kalila 
,,wa ,,dimna3 ,listen to what ,shahzan1 
son of ,barzin has  said when he        
revealed the secret4 ,because this      
section is an episode  which assuredly  
did not appear in the ,,khoday-,,nameh1 
we may conclude that  the prose         
,shahname on which this ,shahzan        
collaborated1 embodied all  manner of   
similar episodes1 though ,firdausi may  
have taken several from  elsewhere4 ,it 
is an interesting circumstance that the 
potentate who had  this work prepared by
 ,abu ,mansur bin ,abdar ,razzak1 had   
inserted--so  ,biruni tell us--a        
fictitious genealogical tree in it which
 led up his  ancestors to ,minochihr4   
,such things were in those times very   
common  among new men of ,persian origin
 who attained power4 ,we are compensated
  for the loss of this prose work by at 
least the epos of ,ferdausi which  has  
issued from it4    ,sidenote3 ,dinawari4

    ,as the most important of extant    
,arabic representations of the          
,khoday-,nameh and the cognate          
literature we must regard at any rate   
,tabari ,i have already touched upon    
,eutychius1 ,ibn ,kotaiba1 and ,yakubi4 
,another old chronicler ,abu ,hanifa    
,ahmed bin ,daud ,dinawari greatly      
accords with ,tabari but presents also  
much that is peculiar to himself4  ,a   
closer examination would no doubt reveal
 that he draws considerably  upon       
romances directly or indirectly and that
 he is not particularly  accurate4      
,tabari reproduces the conflicting      
versions of the same  incident          
separately one after another2 ,dinawari 
works them up into a  single unified    
narrative4    ,sidenote3 ,hamza4    ,the
 small book which ,hamza ,ispahani wrote
 in #ifa1 contains in brief much        
independent information on the          
,sasanides4 ,hamza treats his materials 
in  a spirit of much more freedom and   
independence than ,tabari1 but to us    

the compiling process of ,tabari is far 
more convenient4    ,sidenote3 ,masudi4 
,masudi in his ,meadows of ,gold affords
 us many a supplement to ,tabari's      
narratives derived from reliable        
,persian sources4 ,but ,masudi works    
very  unequally1 accepts a good deal    
that is suspicious provided only it is  
entertaining1 and as regards detail he  
is by no means over exact4    ,as an    
historical authority1 the ,persian      
redaction of ,tabari1 so  remarkable in 
many of its aspects1 and achieved by    
,muhammad ,belami or by  others under   
his guidance1 has but little value4 ,i  
designate this work  as ,persian ,tabari
 and have used it in the splendid ,gotha
 manuscript  and in ,zotenberg's ,french
 translation4 ,i have also consulted the
 ,turkish  version of ,belami in a      
,gotha ,manuscript4    ,sidenote3       
,tabari more valuable than ,firdausi4   
,all these writers and others present us
 collectively a tolerably rich  and     
vivid portrait of ,persian tradition of 

the ,sasanide times4 ,but the  best     
comprehensive statement of the story of 
the ,sasanides on the basis  of this    
tradition is furnished us by ,tabari1   
all his shortcomings  notwithstanding   
and despite the pre-eminence which      
,firdausi's poem  possesses as such4    
,sidenote3 ,ibn ,kelbi4    ,but in his  
narrative of this period ,tabari had    
laid under contribution  reports which  
were not of ,persian origin4 ,for the   
history of the ,arab  princes of ,hira1 
which is so intimately related to that  
of the ,persian  empire1 ,tabari's chief
 authority was ,hisham bin ,muhammad    
called ,ibn  ,kelbi a man who1 like his 
father ,muhammad bin ,saib ,kelbi before
 him1 has  rendered1 however often      
modern criticism may take exception to  
the  unscientific system of both the    
writers1 the greatest service in        
connection with the collection of the   
scattered information on the  history of
 ancient ,arabs4 ,we know of a few of   
the numerous writings1  large and small1

 of ,ibn ,kelbi which are enumerated for
 us in the  ,fihrist and which probably 
are at the root of ,tabari's chapters4  
,it is  quite possible that ,tabari     
borrows many of the secondary sources of
 ,ibn  ,kelbi4 ,it is surprising that   
the latter is cited as an authority on  
the  ,persian history itself1 on the    
reigns of ,ardeshir1 ,peroz1 ,khosrau   
,i1  ,harmizd ,,iv1 ,khosrau ,,ii1 and  
,yazdegerd ,,iii4 ,we are not cognisant 
of any  work of his on the ,history of  
,persia4 ,but it may be conjectured that
  occasionally in his history of ,arabia
 he supplied minuter details  touching  
contemporary ,persia4 ,an amanuensis of 
his1 ,jabala bin ,salim1 is  noticed in 
the ,fihrist as one of the translators  
from ,persian4 ,ho  provided his master 
with material from ,pahlavi books4      
,for the ,history of the ,arabs of that 
period ,tabari has used a variety of    
other sources1 most prominent among them
 being ,muhammad ,ibn ,ishak who is     
better known as the biographer of the   

prophet4 ,in this section of  ,tabari's 
great work mediately or immediately a   
large amount of diverse  information has
 been brought together4    ,it is       
certainly desirable and to be hoped that
 the criticism of the  sources in this  
domain would make substantial progress4 
,but the point of  greatest moment even 
here is to test every incident or piece 
of  information according to its origin 
and credibility as ,i have  endeavoured 
to do in the footnotes4                 
,,appendix ,,vi    ,,letter ,,of        
,,tansar ,,to ,,the ,,king ,,of         
,,tabaristan4      ,christensen1 by the 
following reasoning1 comes to the       
conclusion1 that  it was written        
somewhere between #eeg and #egj4        
,among the sources of our knowledge of  
the ,sasanian institutions1 one of  the 
most important is the letter of ,tansar 
to the king of ,tabaristan  published   
and translated by ,darmesteter in the   
,journal ,asiatique  7#ahid74 ,the      
information which it gives on points    

where we can verify it  is so exact that
 we cannot doubt that the letter was    
composed in the  time of the ,sasanians4
 ,on the other hand1 on the first       
reading of the  epistle ,i formed the   
impression that it was a literary       
fiction dating  from the time of ,khusro
 when the tradition made of ,ardeshir   
the model of  political sagacity and the
 founder of the entire organisation of  
the  empire4 ,the letter impressed me as
 a historical1 theological1 political   
and moral dissertation which in the     
shape of a correspondence between  the  
grand ,herbed ,tansar and the king of   
,tabaristan1 ill-informed  regarding the
 new state of affairs and hesitating to 
submit himself to  ,ardeshir1 was       
calculated to instruct contemporaries4  
,it1 therefore1 fits  in with the entire
 literature of the ,andarz type1 which  
was developed  under ,khusro and the    
object of it was the moral instruction  
of the  people4 ,a more minute          
examination has confirmed me in this    

view and now  ,i think ,i am able to    
affirm positively that the letter was   
composed  under ,khusro ,i4 ,tansar     
relates that ,ardeshir softened the     
penalties for  crimes against the       
religion4 ,formerly1 they used to put to
 death  without hesitation those who set
 aside the religion of the ,state4 ,but 
,ardeshir has directed that the accused 
shall be arrested and shall be          
catechised during a year and only if    
that proves of no effect he shall  be   
killed4 ,as a matter of fact1 the       
rigorous ordinance which awarded  the   
punishment of death for apostacy could  
not have existed before  ,parsism became
 with ,ardeshir the ,state religion4    
,the relaxation of  punishment1 on the  
other hand1 dates from a much later     
period1 when the  standpoint of greater 
humanity began to be prevalent and when 
it was  attempted to give greater       
authority to these views by attributing 
them  to the celebrated founder of the  
dynasty4 ,and we can say the same thing 

with reference to the less severe       
punishment for crimes committed  against
 the ,state and in respect of other     
things mentioned in the  letter4        
,besides1 the tolerance in matters      
religious and the humanity of  ,khusro  
,i are well-known4    ,now let us look  
at the incident of succession4          
,according to the letter  ,ardeshir did 
not like to choose his successor lest   
the latter should  wish for his death4  
,so1 he arranged for the succession in  
the following  manner4 ,the king only   
left in his royal letters a few counsels
 or  instructions to the grand ,mobed1  
the commander-in-chief1 and the         
principal secretary1 and after the      
decease of the king the latter were  to 
proceed to elect a successor from among 
the royal princes4 ,if they  all were   
not of the same mind the choice should  
rest with the grand  mobed alone4 ,but  
,aideshir had made a formal notes that  
he was not  going to establish a        
president thereby1 and that in another  

age a  manner of looking at things      
different from ours may appear the      
proper  one4 ,in the first place such an
 arrangement accords ill with the nature
  of a statesmen like ,ardeshir1 for we 
know from ,tabari who follows the       
official chronicle of the times of the  
,sasanians1 that ,ardeshir as well  as  
,shapur ,i and ,,ii themselves chose    
their respective successors4 ,but in    
the times between ,ardeshir ,,ii and    
,kawadh the election of the king was    
generally in the hands of the noblemen1 
and the system mentioned by  ,tansar may
 well have suited this period and been  
in harmony with the  singular expression
 ascribed to ,ardeshir that the system  
in question was  not a definite one1 and
 that in other periods1 other manners   
might be  more convenient4 ,it seems to 
us that the letter of ,tansar was       
composed  at a period when the memory of
 the system of ,ardeshir was still      
living  although it had already been    
abolished4 ,in other words1 it was the  

time  when the kings had gained the     
power to nominate their successors      
during  their life-time1 which brings us
 to the period between ,kawadh and      
,hormum  ,,iv4    ,the letter makes     
,ardeshir say ,none but the subject     
kings who do not  belong to our ,house  
can assume the title of king barring the
 wardens of  the marches of the         
territory of the ,allans and the        
districts in the west  and of ,khwarzm4 
,by the oppression 'the warden of the   
matches' we must  understand no doubt   
the marzbans of the countries           
established by  ,khusro4    ,finally1   
the geographical notices permit us to   
determine in a more exact  fashion the  
time of the origin of the letter4444    
,the letter was  consequently1 composed 
after the march of ,khusro ,i towards   
the ,east by  the destruction of the    
,hephthahtes1 but before the capture of 
,yemen4  that is to say1 between        
#eeg-egj4    ,christensen finally notes 
that ,marquart has arrived at the same  

conclusion1 by another way1 namely1 that
 the letter is a fiction of the  time of
 ,khusro ,i4 7,see ,eranshahr page #cj1 
note #b74          ,,appendix ,,vii     
,some ,arabic authors and the ,iranian  
material they preserve4      ,,iranian  
,,material ,,in ,,the ,,uyunal ,,akbhar 
,,of ,,ibn ,,qotaiba4                   
,note1--,brockelmann's edition of the   
,uyunal ,akhbar is not accessible  to me
 in ,india4 ,i have carefully examined  
the first volume of the ,cairo  ,edition
 and the following will show the wealth 
of ,iranian material  comprised in the  
book4--,g4,k4,n4      ,when the ,kisra  
died this was reported to the ,prophet  
who inquired who  was going to succeed  
the dead emperor and when he was told   
his daughter1  the princess ,buran1 the 
,prophet declared that the nation could 
not  prosper inasmuch as its affairs    
depended upon a woman4 7p4 #aa74        
,sidenote3 ,next-of-kin marriage4    ,i 
have read in the ,book of the ,persians 
an epistle written by  ,ardeshir1 son of

 ,babak to his subjects declaring that  
the ecclesiastical  authorities were the
 upholders of the religion and that the 
warriors  were the bearers of the casque
 and literature1 and were ornaments of  
the  empire and that the agriculturists 
were pillars of the country4 7p4 #ae74  
,in the course of the epistle there is a
 reference to marriage of next  of kin1 
the king exhorting his subjects to      
tazauwa-ju-fil qarabayn4    ,sidenote3  
,kitab ,ain or the ,pahlavi ,ain-nameh4 
,sidenote3 ,anushirwan's rule4    ,i    
have read in the ,ain that a king of    
,persia said in his address to  his     
people3 ,i am only the ruler of people's
 bodies1 not their minds2  and ,i govern
 with justice1 not according to my      
pleasure2 and ,i safeguard  people's    
property1 not their secrets4            
,furthermore1 the ,persians say the     
most efficient of rulers is he who draws
 the bodies of his subjects to  fealty  
to him through their hearts4 ,when      
,anushirwan appointed a person  to an   

office he directed his secretary to     
leave out in the appointment  order a   
space of four lines so that he may fill 
it up with his own hand1  and when the  
appointment order was brought to him he 
would write in it  govern the good      
people by love1 and for the common      
people mix liberty  with awe and govern 
the proletariat with levity4 7p4 #ae74  
,and it is said in the ,book of the     
,persians that the hearts of the  people
 are the treasuries of the king1 so that
 whatever is put there  should be made  
known to him4 7p #ag74    ,sidenote3    
,the ,taj4    ,and ,i have read in the  
,taj2 ,said ,aberwez to his son ,shiruya
 who had  put him into prison1 and here 
follow some views relating to the       
treatment of soldiers4    ,and in one of
 the ,books of the ,persians it is      
stated that ,ardeshir  said to his son1 
,oh1 my son1 the empire and the religion
 are two  brothers which cannot do the  
one without the other4 ,for the religion
 is  the foundation and the empire is   

the guardian and whatever has no        
foundation falls and whatever has no    
guardian to look after it goes to  waste
 ,and then proceeds to advise him as to 
the treatment of the  nobles1 warriors1 
the clergy1 etc4 ,then are described the
 five qualities  essential in a man     
occupying a post in the imperial        
government    ,and it is said in the    
,taj that ,aberwez wrote to his son     
,shiruya from  his prison4444 7p4 #bj7  
,and ,i have read in the letter 444     
,aberwez wrote to his son ,shiruya1 and 
here follow instructions regarding the  
three qualifications necessary in  a    
revenue officer4 7p4 #ba7    ,sidenote3 
,the ,taj4    ,i have read in the ,taj  
that one of the kings of ,persia took   
counsel  with his ,wazirs1 and here     
follows a discussion about the necessity
 of  confiding one's secret to one man  
only and not more4 7p4 #be7             
,sidenote3 ,epistle of ,aberwez4    ,i  
have read in the ,epistle of ,aberwez to
 his son ,shiruya who was  imprisoned by

 him1here follows the advisability of   
taking counsel with  a certain class of 
people4 7p4 #cj74    ,sidenote3         
,marzbans4    ,one of the kings of      
,persia1 when he consulted the ,marzbans
 and they did  not give their opinion in
 a proper way1 summoned those who were  
entrusted with provisioning the         
,marzbans and punished them4 ,the latter
  complained that the error was on the  
part of the ,marzbans whereas the       
punishment was awarded to them and the  
king replied that was so1 and  that the 
,marzbans would not have committed the  
error unless their minds  were not      
dependent upon their food4    ,sidenote3
 ,buzurjamaher4    ,sidenote3 ,books of 
the ,persians4    ,sidenote3 ,ideal     
,persian ,secretary    ,says            
,buzurjamaher1 ,when you are in doubt as
 to the propriety of doing  one of two  
things then look out for the one which  
is nearest to your  desires and         
relinquish it4 7p4 #bc74 ,and it is said
 in the ,books of the  ,persians1 and   

here follows one of the most frequently 
repeated  injunctions about the strict  
guarding of one's secrets4 7p4 #dj47    
,the  ,persians were in the habit of    
saying that the person would be         
deficient  as a writer who was not      
conversant with the nature of flowing   
waters1  with the digging of canals1    
with mirage1 with the length of days as 
to  particular seasons1 with the rising 
of the new moon1 and its effects1  with 
weights and measures1 with mensuration1 
triangles1 squares1 and  measurements of
 areas involving various angles1 with   
the preparation of  channels and bridges
 and water mills1 with the implements of
 artisans1  and with the intricacies of 
mathematics4 7p4 #dc74    ,sidenote3    
,mobedan-,mobed    ,i have read in one  
of the ,books of the ,persians that the 
,mobedan-,mobed in eulogising the art of
 writing said etc 444 7p4 #dg74         
,sidenote3 ,epistle of ,aberwez4    ,i  
have read in the ,epistle of ,aberwez to
 his son ,shiruya4 ,then follows  an    

advice about severely punishing even a  
small piece of dishonesty4  7p1 #eh74   
,sidenote3 ,the ,taj4    ,i have read in
 the ,taj that ,aberwez said to the     
treasurer here  follows some            
observations on integrity4    ,sidenote3
 ,persian sense of justice and equity4  
,i have read in the ,ain that it behoves
 the ruler to understand the            
jurisdiction of rightful justice1 of    
justice which is not equity1 of  equity 
which is not justice1 and to use his    
judgment with regard to  evidence and   
eyewitnesses1 and to refrain from       
doubtful matters4 ,since  it is both    
justice and equity to kill a person for 
the slaughter of a  person1 and it is   
justice without equity to kill a master 
for the  slaughter of a slave1 and it is
 equity without justice to award the    
same  punishment for a crime committed  
by a sane man as to one who was not in  
his senses4 7p4 #hh74    ,and ,i have   
read in the ,taj3 ,said ,aberwez to his 
chamberlain2 and here  follow very      

interesting instructions regarding the  
treatment which the  chamberlain was to 
give to the various persons seeking an  
audience of  the king4 7p4 #gd74    ,i  
have read in the ,taj here follows an   
address of a secretary to a  king4      
,sidenote3 ,speech from the throne4     
,i have read in the ,siyaral ,ajam one  
of the ,arabic versions of ,shah  ,nameh
 that ,ardeshir1 when he was firmly     
established on the throne1  gathered    
together his subjects and addressed them
 with eloquence  exhorting them to love 
and obedience to himself1 and warning   
them  against sin and dividing the      
people into four classes1 upon which    
those  present made obeisance and their 
spokesman addressed the king as         
follows4 ,here follows one of those     
typical speeches of which we have so    
many in ,shah ,nameh1 and which leaves  
no doubt that the originals of  them    
were composed in ,pahlavi and that they 
were almost literally  translated4      
,,jahiz4    ,,kitab-,,al-,,bayan        

,,va-,,al-,,tabayyin4    7,egyptian     
,edition47      ,,part ,i4    ,the      
dictum of ,,buzurjamehr3 ,buzurg1 son of
 ,bokhtagan was asked1 ,which is  the   
thing which covers indolence4 ,aye he   
said1 ,wisdom1 which gives  beauty to   
it4 ,they said1 ,if a person has got no 
wisdom8 ,he said1  ,then property1 which
 will cover it4 ,they said1 ,but if     
there is no  property8 ,he said1 ,his   
friends will earn respect for him4 ,they
 said1  ,but if he has got no friends to
 earn respect for him8 ,he said1 ,if a  
person is indolent then he must preserve
 silence ,they said1 ,but if he  does   
not observe silence8 ,he said1 ,then    
sudden death is better for him  than    
that he should remain1 in the world of  
the living4 ,this passage  has been     
repeated at page #abc with a slight     
difference4 ,there the  interrogator is 
,kisra ,anushirvan1 and the question is1
 which thing is  the best for a man who 
is indolent4 ,buzurg replies1 ,wisdom1  
with which  he may be happy4 7p1 #d47   

,there is mention of several authors and
 books similar to ,kalileh wa  ,dimneh  
with the names of their authors         
including ,sahal ,ibn ,harun1 ,ibn      
,rayhani1 ,al ,katib4 7p4 #cj47    ,says
 ,ismai3 ,in the alphabet of the ,romans
 there is no zad and among  the         
,persians there is no tha4 7p4 #cf7     
,a longish definition and description of
 oratory by ,ibn ul ,mukaffa4 7p4  #fd47
    ,ibn ,mukaffa again referred to4 7p4
 #fe47    ,instances of ,arabic poetry  
in which ,persian words and phrases are 
intermingled e4g41 garden for unuk      
7neck72 av sard for cold water1  c4 7p4 
#gi47    ,there are several other       
instances where the ,persian words are  
there1  but the copyist and possibly    
also the editor1 do not seem to have    
understood the ,kasida and the editor   
observes in a marginal note that1  the  
text is corrupt1 ,g4,k4,n4      ,,part  
,,ii4    ,mention of ,sahal ,ibn ,harun4
 7p4 #cg47    ,mention of ,persia1 7p4  
#ec47    ,mention of ,abdallah ,ibn     

,mukaffa4 7p4 #hd47    ,mention of      
,persia1 7p4 #ib47    ,dicta of ,ibn al 
,mukatia on the dignity of kings and of 
nobles1 7p4 #ajd47    ,reference to     
,khalid al ,kisravi4 7p4 #aje47         
,reference to ,ibn al ,mukaffa4 7p4     
#aji47    ,khalid al ,kisrawi4 7p4      
#aab47    ,al ,hurmuzan4 7p4 #aci47     
,on the service of kings4 7p4 #agf47    
,,part ,,iii4    ,the ways of the       
,shuubiya4 7p4 #b47    ,reference to    
,persia4 7p4 #e47    ,persia and ,arabia
 compared4 7p4 #g47    ,arabia and      
,persia compared4 7p4 #ab47    ,arabia  
and ,persia contrasted4 ,the prophets of
 ,ajam4 7p1 #ac47    ,reference to      
,persia4 7p4 #dd47    ,the ,persian     
throne4 7p4 #gg47    ,dicta of ,mukaffa4
 7p4 #hg47    ,khalid al ,barmaki4 7p4  
#aaj47    ,dicta on ,adab of ,mukaffa4  
7p4 #ace47    ,reference to ,barmaki4   
7p4 #agd47    ,reference to ,barmaki4   
7p4 #agj47    ,sahal ,ibn-,harun4 7p4   
#ahe47    ,dictum of ,buzurja ,meher4   
7p4 #bag47    ,madaini quoted4 7p4      

#bcc47    ,persia referred to4 7p4      
#bcd47      ,,part ,,iii41 ,,page #e4   
,sidenote3 ,value of ,zoroastrian       
literature4    ,and we note that the    
persons most superior with1 regard to   
preaching our  sermons are the          
,persians4 ,and among the ,persians the 
most clever in this  respect are the    
people of ,fars1 and they are the       
sweetest in words1 and  their           
pronunciation is the most correct4 ,and 
the most difficult in this  respect are 
the people of ,merv4 ,the most eloquent 
dialect of ,persia is  the ,dari4 ,as   
regards the ,pahlavi idiom1 of the      
people of the country of  ,ahwaz are the
 best4 ,and as regards the chantings of 
the ,,herbeds and the  songs of the     
,,mobeds the superiority in this respect
 lies with the  annotators of the       
,zemzema4 ,and it is said that he who   
desires to acquire  proficiency in the  
art of eloquence1 and to be acquainted  
with rare  expressions1 and to be       
profoundly versed in vocabulary should  

read the  book of ,karwand4 ,moreover1  
if it is necessary to acquire sagacity  
and  good manners and knowledge of the  
various interpretations of terms1 a     
knowledge of pleasing expression and    
agreeable interpretation1 one  should   
study the ,,lives ,,of ,,kings1 since   
for the ,persians this book  contains   
essays and sermons and fine expressions4
      ,,hamza ,,ispahani4    ,sidenote3 
,why no authentic history of ,iran has  
survived4    ,sidenote3 ,a clear        
reference to the ambiguous ,pahlavi     
script and to the  great difficulty of  
translating from it3    ,sidenote3      
,enumeration of the sources of ,iranian 
history4    ,there are four dynasties   
among the kings of ,persia and their    
enumeration  is given alone and without 
any history of the events of their time 
or  the characteristics of the kings of 
,persia during the protracted period  of
 their sovereignty4 ,they were divided  
into four groups called the             
,feshdadiya1 the ,kayaniya1 the         

,ashghaniya1 and the ,sasaniya4 ,their  
entire  chronology is dubious and not   
certain since it was translated after   
#aej  years from one language into      
another and from one equivocal set of   
symbols for figures into another set of 
symbols1 so that there remained  nothing
 for me with reference to a narrative1  
in these chapters except  to bring      
together the doubtful transcripts4 ,i   
succeeded in finding eight  transcripts 
and these were the following3--,the     
,book of the ,reigns of the  ,kings of  
,persia translated by ,ibn al ,mukaffa1 
the ,book of the ,reigns of  the ,kings 
of ,persia translated by ,muhammad ,ibn 
al ,jaham al ,barmak1 the  ,book of the 
,history of the ,kings of ,persia which 
was taken out of the  treasury of the   
,khalif ,mamun2 the ,book of the ,reigns
 of the ,kings of  ,persia which was    
translated by ,zaduya son of ,shahuya of
 ,ispahan2 the  ,book of the ,reigns of 
the ,kings of ,persia which was         
translated or  compiled by ,muhammad    

,ibn al ,behram ,ibn ,mutyan of         
,ispahan2 the ,book of  the ,chronology 
of the ,kings of ,persia which was      
translated or compiled  by ,heshan ,ibn 
,kasum of ,ispahan1 the ,book of the    
,chronology of the ,kings  of the       
,sasanian ,dynasty which was improved   
upon by ,behram son of ,mardan  ,shah1  
,mobed of the district of ,shabur in the
 country of ,fars4 ,and when ,i  had    
collected together all these works1 ,i  
compared one with the others  and then  
acquired what was necessary for the     
writing of this chapter4    ,sidenote3  
,incorrect translations from ,pahlavi4  
,and says ,abu ,mashar1 the             
astronomer3--,the majority of their     
,iranian  histories are interpolated and
 corrupt1 and there is the corruption   
because they have come down from a great
 many years ago and because they  have  
been translated from one writing into   
another and from one tongue  into       
another and hence there have been       
mistakes of either excess or  defect4   

,and the ,persians start their assertion
 from the ,book which was brought  to   
them by ,zaradusht and which was called 
,avesta4 ,this is the ,book of  their   
religion4 ,it alleges that there have   
elapsed since the reign of  ,kayumarth1 
the father of mankind1 down to the reign
 of king ,yazdegerd1  #dahb years1 #aj  
months1 and #ai days4    ,sidenote3     
,corrupt texts and faulty translations4 
,says ,musa ,ibn ,isa al ,kesravi in his
 book3 ,i saw the ,book which is called 
the ,khoday ,nameh and which is the     
,book which when it was translated  from
 ,persian into ,arabic was entitled     
,kitab al ,muluk al ,fars4 ,i  carefully
 examined the copies of this ,book and  
looked through the  narratives in them1 
and ,i found them in disagreement with  
each other so  that ,i could not find   
even two copies which agreed with each  
other1 and  this was on account of the  
doubts in the minds of the translators  
who  turned from one writing into       
another4    ,sidenote3 ,mobed ,behram   

the historian4    ,and turning back to  
what ,i have related in the previous    
chapter as  regards the chronology of   
the ,persians1 ,i relate what has been  
stated  by ,behram son of ,mardanshah1  
,mobed of the district of ,shabur in the
  province of ,fars4 ,says ,behram the  
mobed3 ,i collected together a little   
over twenty copies of the book called   
,khoday ,nameh and ,i put together      
properly the chronology of the kings of 
,persia from the times of  ,kayumarth1  
the father of mankind1 till the last    
days when the empire was  transferred   
from them to the ,arabs4    ,hamza      
describes the dress of the kings        
according to a book in which  they were 
depicted just before their death4 ,and  
he gives the buildings  which each of   
them erected1 especially the            
fire-temples they established  along    
with the villages on the produce of     
which they were to be  maintained4      
,sidenote3 ,avesta4    ,i have read in  
the book which has been translated from 

one of their  books called ,avesta1 and 
so on ,hamza proceeds regarding the     
beginning  of creation4      ,,tabari4  
7#ast ,series1 ,vol4 #b1 page #fge47    
,sidenote3 ,fire-temples in ,india4     
,it is related by historians versed in  
the antiquities of ,arabia and  ,persia 
that ,bhishtasb1 son of ,kay ,loharasb1 
when he assumed the crown1              
said3--,to-day we have become sovereign 
and we shall employ our thoughts1  our  
action1 and our knowledge for the       
acquisition of the good4 ,and it is     
said that he built in ,fars a city      
called ,fasa and he built fire-temples  
in ,india1 etc41 and appointed herbeds  
to the same4 ,he assigned several       
dignities to seven of his noblemen in   
his dominions and appointed each  of    
them to the charge of a district4       
,sidenote3 ,the appearance of           
,zoroaster4    ,sidenote3 ,wars of ,iran
 and ,turan4    ,zaradusht son of       
,isfayman appeared in the thirtieth year
 of his reign  and laid claim to        

apostleship and endeavoured that his    
religion might be  accepted by the king4
 ,the latter refused and then ,zaradusht
 satisfied  him4 ,upon which the king   
accepted his claim4 ,and he brought to  
him a  ,writing which he claimed was a  
revelation4 ,and the said ,writing was  
inscribed on #ab1jjj cow hides and they 
were embellished with gold1 and         
,bishtasp deposited the same in a place 
in ,istakhar called ,darbesht and  he   
appointed herbeds in that connection4   
,he prohibited the teaching of  it to   
ordinary people4444 ,here follows a     
passage which is not very  clear        
regarding the difference that arose     
between the king of ,iran and  the king 
of the ,turks relating to this new      
religion which ,bishtasb had  adopted4  
,the name of the ,turk sovereign is     
given as ,khurzasaf4 ,now when  the     
messenger arrived with the epistle to   
,bishtasb there were gathered  together 
the ,ahl-bayat#a and the noblemen of the
 empire1 including  ,jamasaf the ,wise1 

and ,zarrin son of ,loharasaf4 ,then    
,bishtasb wrote to  the king of the     
,turks a strongly worded reply          
challenging him to a war  and expressing
 his determination not to withdraw the  
step that he had  taken and saying that 
that even if he refrained from fighting 
there  would be all the people on both  
sides who would continue the struggle4  
,on that day there were in the council  
of ,bishtasb his brother ,zarrin1  and  
,nastur son of ,zarrin1 and ,isfandiyar 
and ,beshotan1 the sons of  ,bishtasb   
and all the progeny of ,loharasb4 ,on   
the side of ,khorasaf there  were ,ju   
,hormaz1 and ,hudarman his brother1 and 
the ,ahl-bayat and  ,baidarafsh1 the    
magician4 ,in the battle ,zarrin was    
killed which was a  heavy blow to       
,bishtasb and a great booty was taken by
 his son  ,isfandiyar1 and ,baidaraf was
 killed which was a calamity to the     
,turks4  ,there was a huge slaughter and
 ,khorsasaf fled4 ,thereupon ,bishtasb  
returned to ,balkh4 ,now when a number  

of years had passed after this war  a   
person called ,karzam attacked          
,isfandiyar4 ,there was also an         
estrangement between ,bishtasb and      
,isfandiyar4 ,order was issued for his  
imprisonment in a castle in which there 
were ladies1 ,bishtasb then  proceeded  
in the direction of ,kerman and         
,sagistan and proceeded towards  a      
mountain called ,tamdar4 ,the various   
manuscripts write the word  differently 
and the editors have printed it without 
the diacritical  marks so that it can be
 read in a variety of ways1 for the     
purpose of  teaching the religion and of
 spreading it there4 ,and he left behind
 him  his father ,loharasaf in the city 
of ,balkh and the treasures and the     
properties along with the harem         
including ,khatus1 his queen1 were also 
left with the old man4 ,as the ,editor  
points out ,khatus is the ,hutaosa  of  
,gosh ,yast #bf1 and ,ram ,yast #cfb4   
,now this fact was conveyed by  the     
spies to ,khorasaf and when he learnt it

 he collected an innumerable  army and  
proceeded from his country towards      
,balkh and ,khorasaf thought  that this 
was an opportunity of attacking         
,bishtasb and his country4 ,thus  when  
he approached ,takhun he sent forward   
,ju ,hormaz1 his brother1 with a  large 
army and directed him to continue his   
march till he reached the  centre of    
,bishtasb's country and to invade it and
 attack the people and  the cities4 ,and
 this was done by ,ju ,hormaz who shed a
 large amount of  blood and carried off 
incalculable booty4 ,and ,khorasaf      
followed him and  set fire to the       
archives and slew ,lohorasaf and the    
herbeds and  destroyed the fire-temples1
 7buyut-an-niran7 and he took possession
 of  the properties and the treasuries  
and took two of the daughters of        
,lohorasaf prisoner and one of them was 
called ,khumay and the other  ,bazafreh4
 ,this of course is according to        
,firdousi ,beh ,afrid4 ,he  captured a  
great standard which was called ,dirafsh

 ,kabyan and he pursued  ,bishtasb who  
was fleeing from him4    ,footnote #a3  
,ahl-bayat1 or people of the house1 is  
the ,arabic equivalent  of the ,iranian 
,visputhra and was applied by ,arabs to 
the superior  ,persian noblemen4        
,footnote #b3 ,here is evidence1 on the 
one hand1 that the ,arab historians  had
 ,iranian histories at their disposal   
and on the other1 that the  latter are  
still reflected in the yasht literature4
    ,the historian narrates how         
,isfandiyar went into the heart of the  
kingdom of the ,turk and reached his    
capital which was called ,dez ,ruin  and
 he proceeds to say and being           
interpreted in ,arabic it means the     
palace of copper4 ,there is further     
reference to the canals and castles     
which we can trace to the ,,bundehesh4  
,the struggle between ,rustum and       
,isfandiyar is also described4 ,this is 
followed by a curious passage  regarding
 ,zoroaster4      ,,dinawari4    ,,page 
#bf1 ,,cairo ,,edition4    ,,the ,,call 

,,of ,,zaradusht4    ,sidenote3 ,rustam 
and ,isfandiyar4    ,and it is said that
 ,zaradusht the head of the ,magians    
came to ,bishtasb  the king and told    
him1 ,i am the ,apostle of ,god to you1 
and gave him  the ,book which the       
,magians possess4 ,then ,bishtasb       
believed in him and  accepted his       
religion which is that of the ,magians  
and exhorted the  people of his kingdom 
to the same and they also accepted it   
nolence  volence4 ,and ,rustam the      
,strong1 was at that time the ,governor 
of  ,sagistan and ,khorasan1 and he was 
powerful of body and possessed of  great
 vigour4 ,and when this happened it was 
reported to ,kaykobad the  king1 this1  
about the admittance of ,bishtasb into  
the ,magian religion  and his abandoning
 the religion of their forefathers4     
,kaykobad became  exceedingly angry at  
this1 and said that this was forsaking  
of the  religion of their forefathers   
who had inherited it from one generation
  to another4 ,then the people of       

,sagistan were gathered together and    
they  wore incited to destroy ,bishtasb4
 ,and they revolted against him4 ,upon  
this ,bishtasb called upon ,isfandiyar  
who was the strongest man of his  time  
and said to him1 ,oh son1 the kingdom   
will be entrusted to you4 ,but  the     
affairs will not improve except by      
killing ,rustam1 and you know his       
strength and vigour4 ,but you are his   
match in power and prowess4 ,so do  you 
choose from the army whomever you like  
and then proceed against  him4 ,so      
,isfandiyar selected #ab1jjj ,persian   
knights from the forces of  his father1 
and marched against ,rustam4 ,and       
,rustam proceeded towards him  between  
the boundaries or ,sagistan and         
,khorasan4 ,isfandiyar suggested to     
,rustam that their armies should be     
excused from attacking each other1  but 
that they two should engage in single   
combat and that whoever killed  the     
other should be held to be the victor4  
,rustam agreed to the proposal  and the 

covenant4 ,then the two armies stood    
abide and the two warriors  engaged in a
 duel4 ,now the ,persians have a good   
deal to say in this  matter and that it 
was ,rustam who killed ,isfandiyar and  
that the  latter's army returned to     
,bishtasb and informed him of what had  
happened  to his son ,isfandiyar4 ,the  
king was overwhelmed with grief fell ill
 and  died4 ,and the kingdom1 came to   
the grandson ,bahman1 son of            
,isfandiyar1  and it is related that    
soon after ,rustam returned to his      
residence in  ,sagistan1 he died4#a     
,footnote #a3 ,note that ,dinawari had  
obviously before him ,iranian           
traditional materials for his history4  
,,dinawari ,,treats ,,of ,,the          
,,following ,,iranian ,,subjects ,,in   
,,his ,,clear ,,and  ,,succinct         
,,fashion4    ,the reign of ,baywarasaf1
 ,farasiyab2 ,dhahak1 the end of the    
reign of  ,minosher and the beginning of
 the reign of ,farasiyab1 the reign of  
,zab  son of ,budkan and ,kaykohad ,zab2

 the reign of ,kaykawuys son of         
,kaykobad1  the reign of ,kai ,khosro1  
the reign of ,lohrasf and the invasion  
of ,bukht  ,nasar2 the reign of         
,bhishtasb in ,persia2 the call of      
,zaradusht1 the  reign of ,bahman ,ibn  
,isfandiyar in ,persia and the          
emancipation of the  ,jews1 the reign of
 ,khumani 7,humay7 the queen of ,bahman2
 the reign of  ,dara ,ibn ,bahman2 the  
war of ,dara with ,greece2 the reign of 
,darayush2 the  origin of ,alexander2   
the invasion of ,alexander against      
,dara2 the reign  of ,ardwan2 ,one para4
 is devoted to the ,muluk ut ,tawaef1   
and then  regularly follow all the      
,sasanian kings beginning with ,shahan  
,shah  ,ardeshir4      ,,ibn ,,al       
,,athir    7,vol4 ,i41 ,,page #aaj      
,,cairo ,,edition47    ,account of ,king
 ,loharasp and his son ,bishtasb and the
 appearance of  ,zaradusht4             
,sidenote3 ,zend and ,pazend4    ,and we
 have related that ,kai ,khosrou1 when  
he was at the point of death1           

bequeathed the crown to the son of his  
uncle ,loharasp2 and when he  acquired  
the sovereignty he got possession of the
 throne of gold adorned  with jewels4   
,for him was built in ,khorasan the city
 of ,balkh which was  called ,husna     
7charming74 ,he established archives and
 strengthened the  empire by the        
selection of soldiers and by advancing  
agriculture4 ,he  took taxes for the    
purpose of wages for his soldiers4 ,at  
that time the  ,turks were in great     
strength and he went down to ,balkh to  
fight them1  and he was a favourite with
 his people and strong in overpowering  
his  vigourous enemies1 kind to his     
well-wishers1 and of great intrepidity4 
,he raised great buildings and cut a    
number of canals1 built cities4 ,the    
kings of ,india and ,china and the      
occident used to pay tribute to him and 
addressed him in their despatches as    
their ',lord' out of fear and  respect  
for him4 ,subsequently he abdicated the 
empire and throne and  engaged himself  

in devotion1 appointing in succession to
 him his son  ,bishtasb to be king4 ,and
 his reign endured for #abj years4      
,after him  ,bishtasb became king and in
 his days appeared ,zaradusht son of    
,sakiman  it should be ,safiman1 the    
difference being only that of a dot who 
claimed to prophesy and the ,magians    
followed him4 ,and according to what  is
 stated by writers1 ,zaradusht belonged 
to ,palestine and was a personal        
servant to one of the disciples of      
,armaya1 the prophet4 ,he was           
unfaithful to him and told him a lie so 
that ,god cursed him and he was         
afflicted with leprosy and went away to 
the country of ,azarbayjan and  there   
started the religion of ,magians4 ,and  
it is also stated by others  that he was
 a ,persian and that he composed a ,book
 and went about with it  in the world4  
,but no one knew its meaning4 ,and it   
was alleged that it  was in a heavenly  
language and was called as such4 ,it was
 entitled ,ashta  this is clearly a     

misformation of ,avesta4 ,then he left  
,azarbayjan and  proceeded towards      
,fars4 ,no one knew what was in the book
 and no one  accepted it4 ,then he went 
to ,india and produced it before the    
kings  there4 ,next he went to ,china   
and ,turkey4 ,but no one acknowledged   
it1 and  he was driven out from their   
countries1 and started for ,farghana    
whose  king prepared to slay him so that
 he fled from there and bent his steps  
towards ,bhishtasb son of ,loharasp2 who
 ordered his imprisonment and he  was   
consequently in captivity for a time4   
,now ,zaradusht wrote a  commentary on  
his ,book called the ,zend which means  
interpretation4 ,next  he commented upon
 the ,zend in a book called ,bazand1    
that is1  interpretation of             
interpretation1 and therein are various 
sciences like  astrology1 astronomy1    
medicine1 etc41 with reference to the   
history of  past ages1 and the books of 
the prophets4 ,and in his book is       
stated1--,adhere to what ,i have brought

 you till the time when there  will come
 to you the man of the red camel1 which 
means ,muhammad the  ,prophet4 ,this was
 at the beginning of the year #afjj and 
it was on this  account that there has  
been enmity between the ,magians and the
 ,arabs and  it has been mentioned in   
the history of ,sabur ,dhul ,aktaf that 
this was  one of the reasons justifying 
the raids on the ,arabs4 ,but ,god knows
 the  best4    ,sidenote3 ,the ,eternal 
fire4    ,sidenote3 ,royal archives     
forbidden to the ,vulgar4    ,then      
,bishtasb caused ,zaradusht to present  
himself before him since he  was in     
,balkh4 ,and when he came to him he     
commenced with his religion4  ,bishtasb 
admired it1 followed it1 and forced his 
people to embrace it1  and slew a large 
number of them till the rest adopted it4
 ,but the  ,magians assert that he was  
by origin from ,azarbayjan and that he  
came to  the king from the roof of his  
palace and that there was in his hand a 
cube of fire with which he played       

without its injuring him2 that whoever  
took it from his hand did so without    
hurting himself4 ,he caused the king  to
 follow him and to accept his creed4    
,and he built fire temples in the       
country and lighted them with that fire4
 ,for it is stated that the fires  which
 are in their fire-temples are burning  
from that fire to this day4  ,but they  
are telling an untruth since the fire of
 the ,magians was  extinguished in all  
their temples when ,god sent ,muhammad  
down as his  apostle as we shall        
describe1 ,god willing1 in the sequel1  
as well as the  appearance of ,zaradusht
 after thirty years of the reign of     
,bishtasb4 ,and  ,zaradusht brought a   
writing which is alleged to be          
revelation from ,god  and is inscribed  
on #ab1jjj cow hides inlaid with gold4  
,bishtasb  deposited them in a place in 
,istakhar and forbade the teaching of   
thorn  to the vulgar4      ,,masudi4    
,kitab-at-tanbih4    ,sidenote3 ,the    
,kohan ,nameh and the ,ain ,nameh4      

,the ,persians have a book called the   
,kohan ,nameh in which are mentioned    
all the officers of the ,persian monarch
 amounting to #fjj and classed          
according to their respective ranks4    
,this book formed part of the ,ain      
,nameh4#a ,the meaning of ,ain ,nameh is
 the ',book of regulations'4 ,it is  a  
book containing several thousands of    
leaves and no one can find a copy  of it
 anywhere except among the mobeds and   
others invested with  authority4 ,the   
mobed of the ,persians at the moment of 
writing this  history1 that is in the   
year #cfd1 for the country of ,jabal in 
,iraq and  for the countries of ,ajam1  
is ,ammad son of ,ashwahisht4 ,before   
him these  countries had for their mobed
 ,isfandiyar1 son of ,adarbad1 son of   
,anmid1  who was killed by ,radi at     
,baghdad in #cbe4    ,footnote #a3 ,a   
remarkable passage from this ,pahlavi   
treatise has been  embodied in a close  
,arabic version in ,ibn ,kutayha's      
,uyun-al-,akhbar4  ,the credit of       

discovering and translating this unique 
passage into a  ,european language      
belongs to ,m4,k4 ,inostranzev4    ,i   
have seen in the city of ,istakhar in   
,fars in the year #cjc in the  house of 
a high noble ,persian1 a large book in  
which were set out along  with the      
descriptions of several sciences the    
histories of the  kings of ,persia1     
their reigns and the monuments which    
they had  erected1--fragments which ,i  
have not been able to find anywhere else
 in  ,persian books1 neither in the     
,khoday ,nameh1 nor in the ,ain ,nameh  
nor  in the ,kohan ,nameh or anywhere   
else4    ,sidenote3 ,portrait of        
,sasanian kings taken just before their 
demise4    ,sidenote3 ,persian ,imperial
 archives3 ,translation into ,arabic4   
,in this book were pictures of the kings
 of ,persia belonging to the house  of  
,sasan1 twenty seven in number1 twenty  
five men and two women4 ,each of  them  
was represented as at the moment of     
death1 whether old or young  with the   

royal ornaments1 with the tiara1 hair1  
beard1 and all the  features of his     
face4 ,this dynasty reigned over the    
country for #dcc  years one month and   
seven days4 ,when one of these kings    
died his  portrait was painted and it   
was deposited in the treasury in order  
that  the living princes may know the   
features of the dead kings4 ,the        
representation of every king who was    
painted as a warrior was in a  standing 
posture2 that of every king who was     
occupied with government  affairs was in
 the sitting posture4 ,to it was joined 
the biography of  each1 of them         
detailing his public and private life   
together with the  important events and 
facts concerning the most interesting   
incidents of  his reign4 ,the book which
 ,i saw was redacted according to the   
documents  found in the treasuries of   
the kings of ,persia and it was         
completed in  the middle of the second  
,jamada of the year #aac4 ,it was       
translated for  ,hisham son of ,abdal   

,malik son of ,merwan from ,persian into
 ,arabic4 ,the  first of the kings of   
this dynasty whom one sees there is     
,ardeshir4 ,the  distinctive colour in  
his portrait was of a brilliant red4    
,his trousers  were of sky-blue and the 
mitre was green on gold4 ,he held a     
lance in the  hand and he was standing4 
,the last was that of ,yezdegerd1 son of
  ,shahariyar1 son of ,kesra ,abarvez4  
,his distinctive colour was green4 ,his 
trousers were sky-blue and his mitre    
vermillion4 ,he held in his hand a      
lance and rested the other hand on his  
sabre4 ,this painting was made  with    
,persian colours which are no longer to 
be found now-a-days and of  gold and    
silver dissolved and of pulverised      
copper4 ,the leaves of the  book were of
 a purple colour and of a marvellous    
tint4 ,it was so  beautiful and prepared
 with such care that ,i do not know     
whether it was  paper or whether it was 
thin parchment4 7,p4 #bej47    ,which   
stands for ,pahlavi and not modern      

,persian4    ,sidenote3 ,zoroaster1     
,avesta1 and ,avesta ,script4           
,zaradusht brought to the king the book 
of ,avesta1 the name of which in        
,arabic has received a final kaf and has
 thus become ,abestak4 ,the  number of  
chapters of book is twenty one1 each    
chapter comprising #bjj  leaves4 ,in    
this book we find a total of sixty      
vowels and consonants each  with a      
distinct character4 ,some of these      
characters are found elsewhere  and     
others have fallen into disseutude4 ,for
 this script is not confined  to the    
language of the ,avesta4    ,sidenote3  
,extent of ,avesta4    ,sidenote3       
,persian translation of ,avesta4        
,sidenote3 ,contents of ,avesta4        
,zoroaster invented this writing which  
the ,magians have called ,sin  ,dabireh1
 that is to say1 the 'sacred writing'4  
,he incised his writing  into #ab1jjj   
cow skins and filled it with gold4 ,it  
was in the ancient  language of ,persia 
of which no one has any knowledge       

to-day4 ,only a few  portions of its    
chapters have been translated into the  
modern ,persian4  ,it is this ,persian  
translation which they have in their    
hands when1 they  say their prayers4    
,the translation contains fragments like
 the ,ashtad1  the ,chitrasht1 the ,aban
 ,yasht1 the ,hadukht1 and other        
chapters4 ,in the  ,chitrasht are found 
the recitals of the origin and the end  
of the world4  ,hadukht comprises       
exhortations4    ,sidenote3 commentaries
 on ,avesta4    ,zoroaster composed the 
commentary on the ,avesta which he      
called the  ,zend1 and which in the eyes
 of his followers was revealed to him by
 ,god4  ,he subsequently translated it  
from ,pahlavi into ,persian4 ,zoroaster1
  further1 prepared a commentary on the 
,zend and called it ,bazend4            
,sidenote3 ,their destruction4    ,the  
,mobeds and the ,herbeds1 learned in the
 science of religion1  commented in     
their turn on this commentary and their 
work was called the  ,barideh1 and1 by  

others1 the ,akradeh4 ,after he had     
conquered the ,persian  ,empire and put 
to death ,dara son of ,dara1 ,alexander 
burnt them4444    ,sidenote3 ,synopsis  
of ,zoroastrian beliefs4    ,besides the
 two modes of writing which they owe to 
,zoroaster1 the  ,persians have five    
other methods in many of which ,nabatian
 words have  been introduced4 ,we have  
explained all these in our books already
 cited  with quotations of portions     
regarding the miracles of ,zoroaster1   
the  marks and the proof of his         
revelation1 the belief in the five      
eternal  principles which are ,ormazd or
 ,god1 ,ahriman which is the same as    
,satan1  the wicked1 ,kah or time1 ,jay 
or space1 ,homa or the good spirituous  
liquor1 the grounds on which they       
support these doctrines1 the reasons    
why they render homage to the two       
luminaries and to other heavenly        
lights1 the distinction which they make 
between fire and light1 their           
discourses regarding the origin of the  

human species1 on ,mashya son of        
,gayomert1 and ,mashyana his daughter1  
and how the ,persians trace their       
geneologies back to these two           
personages1 and finally1 other things   
connected with the exercise of their    
religion1 the practice of their  cult   
and the various places where they have  
established their fire  sanctuaries4    
,sidenote3 ,confutation of prejudice    
,moslem theologians4    ,certain        
,musalman theologians and authors of    
books on various sects1 and  several    
authors who have set before them the    
task at different times of  refuting    
,zoroastrianism have alleged that it is 
believed in their  religion that from   
the reflexion of ,god on himself has    
issued an evil  spirit or the devil and 
that ,god1 indulgent towards him1 has   
accorded  him a certain time during     
which to tempt mankind4 ,these authors  
further  cite as appertaining to this   
religion propositions which the ,magians
  themselves have always rejected4 ,i   

believe that they must have heard  these
 particulars from ordinary people and   
that they have recorded them  as the    
authentic expression of the followers of
 the religion of  ,zoroaster4#a         
,footnote #a3 ,our celebrated ,arab     
polyhistor not only does not malign the 
faith of ,zoroaster but proceeds to     
confute his prejudiced  co-religionists 
who pretended to refute the old faith of
 ,iran4      ,,shaharastani4    ,,kitab 
,,al ,,milal ,,val ,,nihal4    7,page   
#aab1 ,bombay ,edition4 ,compare also   
page #hc of the ,egyptian ,edition  on  
the margin of ,ibn ,hazm47    ,,the     
,,magians4    ,these people believe in  
two ,principles as we have already      
stated2 only1  that the original        
,magians were of the belief that it was 
not possible  that there should be two  
,principles eternal and without         
beginning1 but  that the light was      
without beginning and darkness was only 
produced2 and  they were of different   
views as regards the origin of its      

rise1--whether  it arose from light1    
since light cannot bring something that 
was partly  evil4 ,how then could the   
principle of evil or anything else arise
 since  there was nothing at first which
 participated with light in its         
production and in its being eternal8    
,here the error of the ,magians  becomes
 apparent4 ,they also assert that the   
first of persons was  ,kayumarth1 though
 they sometimes say that he was ,zarwan 
the great1 and  that the last of the    
prophets was ,zaradusht4 ,the           
,kayumarthiya assert  that ,kayumarth   
was ,adam2 ,kayumarth appears as ,adam  
in the histories of  ,india and ,persia4
 ,but all the histories are against     
this4#a    ,footnote #a3 ,i have        
constantly referred to ,haarbrucker's   
,german  translation and to the ,german 
passages cited by ,gottiel in the       
,drisseler  ,volume which was very      
kindly presented to me by our ,prof4    
,a4,v4,w4  ,jackson4 ,gottiel has       
omitted the sections regarding the      

,kayumarthiya4      ,,the               
,,zaradushtiya4    ,these are the       
followers of ,zaradusht1 son of         
,budashab who appeared in  the time of  
,bishtasb1 son of ,lohrasb1 the king4   
,his father came from  ,azarbayjan and  
his mother from ,ray and her name was   
,doghd4 ,they assert  that they had     
prophets and kings and that they had    
,kayumarth who was the  first king on   
the earth and that his residence was at 
,istakhar1 that  after him came         
,haushanj1 son of ,farawal1 who         
descended on ,india4 ,after  him came   
his son ,jam2 the king4 ,then followed  
prophets and kings among  whom was      
,minochehr4 ,he proceeded to ,babel and 
settled there1 and it is  related that  
,musa1 7may peace be on him67 appeared  
in his time4 ,things  continued like    
this till the sovereignty came to       
,bishtasb1 son of  ,lohrasb4 ,in his    
time appeared ,zaradusht al ,hakim or   
the ,wise4444    ,sidenote3 ,miracles of
 ,zoroaster4    ,sidenote3 ,essence of  

his teachings4    ,sidenote3 ,his       
,cosmogony4    ,then the child          
,zaradusht laughed a great laugh which  
was noticed by  all those present1 and  
people contrived so as to put ,zaradusht
 in the  way of cattle and the way of   
horses and in the way of wolves4 ,but   
each  of them stood up to protect him   
from its own kind4 ,after he had        
attained  to an age of thirty ,god sent 
him as his prophet and apostle to his   
creation1 and he turned himself with his
 calling to king ,bishtasb and  the     
latter accepted his creed4 ,his creed   
consisted in the reverence of  ,god and 
the non-reverence of ,satan1 in the     
obedience to good and in the            
prohibition of the evil1 and in         
abstaining from unclean things4 ,he said
  that light and darkness were two      
original principles which opposed each  
other antagonistically1 and so were     
,yazdan and ,ahriman and that both  were
 the beginning of the created things in 
the world4 ,that the  composition of it 

was the product of the co-mingling and  
that the  variety of forms were given   
rise to by means of the various unions1 
but  that ,god was the creator of light 
and darkness and of both the prime      
origins4 ,he was one without a          
companion1 without an opponent1 and     
without anyone who was his like1 and    
that it was not possible to trace  to   
him the existence of darkness in the way
 in which the ,zarwanites  trace it1 but
 that good and evil1 pure and impure1   
holy and unholy1 were  brought forth    
only by the co-mingling of light and    
darkness1 and had not  the two          
fore-gathered the world would not have  
come into existence4 ,they  were pitched
 each against the other and they fight  
each other till light  shall overcome   
darkness1 and good evil4 ,and then the  
good will be  liberated and come to its 
own1 and the evil will be hurled down to
 its  own world and that will be the    
cause of the emancipation4 ,god1 the    
,almighty1 however1 has in his wisdom   

compounded and co-mingled them4         
,sometimes they make out that light is  
the original principle and express      
themselves thus3 ,the existence of light
 is a real existence4 ,darkness1        
however1 is only a consequence like the 
shadow of a person4 ,it was  alleged    
that darkness was a thing produced      
though not created in  reality1 and that
 ,god had produced light and that       
darkness had come out  as a consequence1
 because contrast was a matter of       
necessity in  existence4 ,hence the     
existence of darkness was also          
essential4 ,and thus  it had become a   
thing created although not as in the    
first view1 as  brought out with        
reference to a man's shadow4            
,sidenote3 ,zend ,ave-ta4    ,he        
,zaradusht also had composed a book     
about which people said that it  was    
revealed to him1 namely1 the ,zand      
,awasta which divides the world  into   
two parts1 ,mino or the spiritual and   
,geti or the corporeal2 that is  to say1

 into spiritual and corporeal worlds1 or
 in other words1 into  mental and       
physical4 ,and just as the creation is  
divided into two  worlds1 so according  
to him1 all that was in the world was   
again divided  into two1 namely1        
,bakhshis ,haarbrucker translates       
,bakhshis by  gnade or favour1 but the  
original ,arabic expression is takdir   
which  means destiny1 and kunish or     
deed1 by which are meant                
pre-destination ,by ,god and human      
action4    ,sidenote3 ,zoroastrian      
,ethics4    ,further1 he discussed the  
duties relating to the religious law and
 these  have reference to the movements 
of man4 ,he divided them into three     
parts  ,manish1 ,guyish and ,kunish1    
meaning thereby belief1 speech1 and act1
  and these comprehended all the duties4
 ,when in this a man is wanting he  is  
out of obedience and out of creed4 ,but 
if he conducts himself in  these three  
movements according to the standard of  
the law and the  ordinance he attains to

 the highest good4#a    ,footnote #a3   
,here is an instance where the ,arab    
philosopher and writer  hands down to   
posterity the spirit of ,zoroastrianism 
without prejudice  and with precision4  
,sidenote3 ,some ,miracles explained4   
,the ,zaradashtiya ascribed to          
,zaradusht a number of miracles         
including  that while ,zaradusht was    
thrown into prison the forefeet of the  
horse of  ,bishtasb entered into its    
body4 ,when he was set at liberty1 the  
feet of  the animal came out4 ,next1 it 
is said that he happened to pass a blind
  man at ,dinawar and to have told him1 
,take the herb1 which he described  to  
him and press its juice into your eye   
and you will be able to see4  ,this was 
done and the blind man was restored to  
his sight4 ,this1  however1 is to be    
attributed to his knowledge of the      
properties of the  herb and so it is in 
no wise a miracle4 7,here ,gotthiel     
omits one section  on the ,saisaniya and
 the ,bihafridiya#a74    ,footnote #a3  

,the ,bihafridiya formed a heresy from  
,zoroastrianism in the  time of the     
,moslems4 ,the sect furnishes the       
strongest proof that there  was no      
persecution worth the name in ,persia at
 the time4 ,not only in  those days were
 the ,zoroastrians permitted to follow  
their own faith but  here is a curious  
pars from ,al ,biruni which proves that 
both the  original ,zoroastrians and the
 heresy were permitted to flourish side 
by  side under the ,khalifs3--,when ,abu
 ,moslem came to ,nishapur the mobeds   
and herbeds assembled before him telling
 him that this man the  founder of the  
,bihafridi sect had infected ,islam as  
well as their own  ,zoroastrian         
religion4 ,so he sent ,abdalla to fetch 
him4 ,he met him in  the mountain at    
,badjeh and brought him before ,abu     
,moslem to put him to  death together   
with such of his followers as he could  
capture4 ,his  followers called the     
,bihafridians still keep the institutes 
of their  founder and strongly resemble 

the ,zam-,zamis among the ,magians4     
,shaharastani adds that they were the   
most hostile of ,god's creatures to  the
 ,zamzami ,magians4 ,the entire chapter 
on the ,iranian sects in  ,shaharastani 
is worthy of careful and deep study4 ,it
 explains the  divergence between the   
prescriptions of the ,vendidad and the  
practice  of the bulk of the ,iranians4 
,the ,vendidad was1 it would appear1 the
  authoritative scripture of one of the 
sects of ,zoroastrianism4 ,at any  rate 
it is not too extravagant to deduce from
 the careful studies of the  ,iranian   
religion by ,arab writers that as the   
teachings of ,sakya ,muni  developed    
into more ,buddhisms than one so there  
were several creeds with  the common    
designation of ,zoroastrianism4         
,sidenote3 ,the dignity of ,mobedan     
,mobed4    ,the ,magians and the        
followers of the ,two ,principles and   
the followers of  ,mani and the other   
sects which are related to the ,magians 
are known as  the adherents of the      

,great creed or the ,great religion4    
,all the kings of  ,persia were the     
followers of the religion of ,ibrahim1  
subjects and all  those who belonged to 
the country among them during the reign 
of each of  them followed the religion  
of their rulers4 ,but these latter      
relied upon  the chief of the           
ecclesiastics1 ,mobed ,mobedan1 the sage
 of sages1 and  the wisest of men       
according to whose instructions the     
kings conducted  themselves and without 
whose judgment they undertook nothing2  
to him  they showed reverence such as is
 shown to the ,khalif of the time4      
,,ibn ,,hazm4    ,,kitab ,,al ,,fasal   
,,fil ,,milal ,,wal ,,hawa ,,wal        
,,nahal4    7,,page #aab1 ,,vol4 #a1    
,,egyptian ,,ed47    ,as regards the    
,magians they believed in the           
prophetship of ,zaradasht4444    ,and as
 regards ,zaradasht it is said that the 
majority of ,moslems  believed in his   
prophetship4444    ,sidenote3 ,majority 
of ,moslems believed in the ,prophetship

 of  ,zoroaster4    ,and the ,book of   
the ,magians and their religious ,law   
were for a long time  during their      
sovereignty in the possession of the    
mobeds and #bc  herbeds4 ,each of the   
herbeds had a volume which was          
individual and  separate4 ,in it was    
associated none of the other herbeds and
 no outsider  had any concern with it4  
,subsequently there was a break on      
account of  ,alexander setting fire to  
their books at the time when he invaded 
,dara1  son of ,dara1 and they admit    
with unanimity that a portion of their  
scriptures to the extent of a third has 
perished4 ,this has been  mentioned by  
,bashir and ,nasik and others of their  
men of learning4444    ,sidenote3       
,history of ,zoroastrian ,sacred        
literature4    ,and ,magians compiled   
all the scriptures 7ayat7 regarding the 
miracles of  ,zoroaster such as that of 
the brass which was spread over and     
melted on  his chest and which did not  
injure him1 and the feet of the horse   

which  had penetrated his belly and     
which were drawn out by him1 etc4       
,sidenote3 ,zoroastrians are ,kitabis4  
,and among those who assert that the    
,magians are ,ahal ,kitab are ,ali ,ibn 
,talib and ,khuzayfa1 may ,god be       
pleased on these two1 and ,said ,bin ,al
  ,musib and ,karadah and ,abu ,thaur   
and the whole of the sect of the        
,zahurites4 ,and we have set out the    
arguments of the validity of this       
statement in our book entitled the ,isal
 in the chapters on ,jehad1  ,ceremonial
 ,slaughter1 and ,nikah4 ,and therein is
 sufficiently proved the  validity of   
the acceptance of ,jaziya by the prophet
 of ,god from them4  ,for in the clear  
statement of the ,qoran in the last     
verses of the  chapter of ,burat1 ,god  
has declared unlawful the acceptance of 
the  ,jaziya from non-,kitabis4444      
,now as regards the ,magians they admit 
that the books of theirs in which  is   
incorporated their religion were        
destroyed by fire by ,alexander when  he

 slew ,dara son of ,dara1--that more    
than two-thirds of them have  perished  
the remnants being less than a          
third1--that their religious law  was   
comprised in what has disappeared4 ,now 
since this is the condition  of their   
religion1 then their claims are void    
altogether became of the  disappearance 
of the majority of their books2 since   
,god does not held  responsible any     
person with reference to anything that  
has not been  entrusted to him4         
,sidenote3 ,zoroastrians extant         
scriptures are corrupt4    ,and among   
their books there is one entitled the   
,khudhay to which they  pay great       
reverence1 in which it is related that  
king ,anushirwan  prohibited the        
teaching of their religion in any one of
 the cities  except ,ardeshir ,khurrah  
and the religion spread from ,datjird4  
,before  this time it was not taught    
anywhere except ,istakhar and it was not
  proper for anyone to engage in its    
study except a special class of  people4

 ,and of the books which remained after 
the conflagration by  ,alexander there  
were #bc volumes and there were         
appointed #bc herbeds1  one herbed for  
each volume4 ,and no herbed transgressed
 upon the volume  of another4 ,and the  
,,mobed ,,mobedan was the superintendent
 of the whole of  those scriptures4 ,now
 whatever is in this condition has its  
contents  altered and modified and each 
of the transcripts is in this state4    
,hence  they are corrupt and do not     
deserve to be regarded as authentic4    
,thus  whatever is in their books cannot
 be held to be authentic except by      
reason of faith alone since there are   
evident falsehoods in them like  the    
statement that their king mounted on    
,iblis and rode on him wherever  he     
willed1 that man in the beginning       
originated from a vegetable like  grass 
called ,sharaliya1 and the birth of     
,bayarawan ,siyawush son of ,kay        
,kawash who built a city called ,kangdez
 between the earth and the heaven  and  

settled therein #hj1jjj men belonging to
 the people of family1 that  they are   
there to this day1 and that when ,behram
 ,hamawand manifests  himself on his    
bull to restore to them their           
sovereignty that city will  descend to  
earth and will help him to restore their
 religion and ,empire4  ,says ,abu      
,muhammed1 may ,god be pleased with him4
 ,and every book in which  is           
incorporated a falsehood is invalid and 
fictitious4 ,it does not come  from     
,god4 ,thus there is corruption in the  
religion of the ,magians just  as there 
is in the religion of the ,jews and the 
,christians to an equal  degree4        
,,ibn ,,haukal4    ,ibn ,haukal has been
 edited in the ,bibliotheca ,geogra     
phorum ,arabicorum  by ,de ,goege1 but  
as the text is not available the        
following excerpts  from a translation  
of it made over a century ago by ,sir   
,william ,ouseley  will indicate its    
importance4 ,he flourished in the middle
 of the #aath  century4    ,sidenote3   

,fire ,temples4    ,there is not any    
district nor any town of ,fars without a
 fire temple4  ,these are held in high  
veneration4 ,we shall hereafter minutely
 describe  them4 ,also throughout ,fars 
there are castles one stronger than     
another4    ,sidenote3 ,nirang4         
,there is not any district of this      
province nor any without a fire  temple4
 ,one near ,shapur they call ,kunbud    
,kaush4444 ,and in the religion  of the 
,guebres it is ordained that ',omnis    
,foemina quae tempore gravid it  at is  
aut tempore menstruorum1 fornicationem  
seu adultarium fecerit1  pura non erit1 
donec ad ,pyraeum 7seu templum          
,ignicolarum7 accesserit  7et7 coram    
,heirbed 7sacerdote7 nuda ferit et urina
 vaccae se laverit4'    ,in the province
 of ,fars1 they have three              
languages--the ,,parsi1 which  they use 
in speaking one to another1 though there
 may be some  variations of dialects in 
different districts yet it is in fact   
all the  same and they all understand   

the languages of each other and none of 
their expressions or words are          
unintelligible2 the ,pahlavi language   
which was formerly used in writings2    
this language now requires a  commentary
 or explanatory treatise2 and the       
,arabic language which at  present is   
used in the ,divans or royal courts of  
justice and revenue1  etc4    ,sidenote3
 ,maritime commerce4    ,as to the      
manners of the people in ,fars those who
 are the chief men and  occupy the      
higher offices in the service of the    
sovereign are polite and  courteous4    
,they have fine palaces and are very    
hospitable4 ,the people in  general1 are
 kind and civil in their manners4 ,the  
merchants are  remarkably covetous and  
desirous of wealth4 ,i have heard that  
there was  a certain man of ,siraj who  
had forty years at sea never leaving his
 ship  during this time4 ,whenever he   
came to a port he sent some of his      
people  on shore to transact his        
commercial affairs1 and when the        

business was  finished he sailed on to  
some other place4 ,the inhabitants of   
,siraj  devoted their whole time to     
commerce and merchandise4 ,i myself saw 
at  this place several persons who      
possessed #d1jjj thousand dinars and    
there  were some who had still more and 
their clothes were those of labourers4  
,sidenote3 ,parsis in ,fars4    ,in     
,fars there are fire worshippers1       
,guebres1 and ,christians and some      
,jews4 ,and the practices of the        
,guebres1 their fire temples1 and their 
customs and ceremonies and ,guebreism or
 ,magism1 still continue among the      
people of ,fars and there are not in1   
any country of ,islam so many  ,guebres 
as in the land of ,fars4 ,it has been   
their capital or residence4    ,like all
 other ,arab authors ,ibn ,haukal       
mentions the celebrated men  belonging  
to each of the provinces he describes4  
,among the celebrities  of ,fars are    
reckoned ,hormuz1 ,guebre1 who in the   
time of ,omar was taken  by ,abdulla    

,ibn ,omar and put to death2 and ,salman
 ,farsi who was one of  the illustrious 
men4 ,his piety is celebrated throughout
 the world4 ,he  sought the truth of    
religion in all quarters only to find it
 at ,medina  with the ,prophet4 ,in     
consequence of this ,selman became a    
true believer4  ,abdulla ,ibn ,mukaffa  
also belonged to ,fars4 ,in the         
territory of ,istakhar  is a great      
building with statuettes carved in stone
 and there also are  inscriptions and   
paintings4          ,,appendix ,,viii   
,,ibn ,,khallikan    ,,biographical     
,,dictionary      ,,translated ,,by ,,de
 ,,slane1 ,,vol1 ,i4    ,dehkan is a    
,persian word signifying both a farmer  
and a historian4 ,it  is generally used 
to designate a person of ancient        
,persian family  possessing hereditary  
landed property4 7,p4 #gg74    ,ispeh   
,salar4 ,this word signifies commander  
of the troops4 7,p4 #bbh74  ,,katibs or 
writers were the persons employed in    
public offices3 the  directors1 clerks  

and secretaries in government service   
were all called  katib4    ,sidenote3   
,nauruz in ,baghdad4    ,khalifs'       
,nauruz4--,this another name for ,nauruz
 ,khasa ,new ,year's day  proper1 in    
which it was customary to offer presents
 to the sovereign4  ,this festival was  
held on the sixth day of the month of   
,ferwardin 7end  of ,marob74 ,the old   
,persian custom of celebrating ,nauruz  
existed at  ,baghdad under the ,abbaside
 ,khalifs4 7,see ,p4 #bjc of this work1 
see also  an anecdote of ,ahmed ,ibn    
,yusuf al ,khatif in his life of ,al    
,mubarad47 7,p4  #cdj74    ,in the year 
#dii ,ak ,sunkur was directed by the    
sultan ,muhamed to lay  siege to ,tikrit
 which was then in the possession of    
,kaikobad ,ibn  ,hazarasb 7about #aabe74
 7,p4 #bbg47    ,sidenote3 ,ibn         
,mukaffa4    ,ibn ,khallikan has devoted
 seven pages to the life of ,ibn        
,mukaffa who is  called the ,katib and  
was renowned for the elegance of his    
style4 ,he  was the author of admirable 

epistles4 ,he was a native of ,fars and 
a  ,magian4 ,but he was led to the      
profession of ,islam by the uncle of the
  two first ,abbaside ,al ,safar and ,al
 ,mansur4 ,he then became a secretary   
and was admitted into intimacy4 ,it was 
related that ,mukaffa went to ,isa  ,ibn
 ,ali and said that he was persuaded of 
the truth of ,islam and wished  to make 
a profession of that faith4 ,isa        
answered1 ,let it be done in the        
presence of the leaders and chiefs of   
the people who come here  to-morrow4 ,on
 the evening of that very day he went to
 dine with ,isa1  and having sat down he
 began to eat and to mutter according to
 the  custom of the ,magian1 ,how said  
,isa1 he mutters like the ,magian       
although resolved to embrace ,islam8 ,to
 this ,makaffa replied3 ,i do not  wish 
to pass a single night without some     
religion4 ,the next morning he  made to 
,isa his solemn profession of ,islam4   
,notwithstanding the eminent  merit of  
,mukaffa he was suspected of infidelity 

and ,al ,jahiz states that  his         
religious sincerity was doubted 7,p4    
#dca74 ,ibn ,kallikan says1 ,it was     
,mukaffa who composed the book entitled 
,kalileh ,wa-,dimneh4 ,but some  state  
that he is not the author of the work   
which they say was in  ,pahlavi1 and he 
translated it into ,arabic1 and put it  
in an elegant  style4 ,but the discourse
 at the beginning of the work is by him4
      ,,volume ,,ii4    ,ahmed ,ibn     
,yusuf addressed to ,al-,mamun a verse  
with a present of an  embroidered robe  
on the day of ,nauruz4 7,p4 #cb74       
,al-,marzubani received his surname of  
,al-,marzubani because one of his       
ancestors bore the name of              
,al-,marzuban1 a designation applied by 
,persians to great and powerful men     
only4 ,this word signifies guardian of  
the frontier1 as we learn from ,ibn al  
,jawaliki's work called ,al-muarrab4    
7,p4 #fh74    ,a reference to the game  
of chess which originated in ,india1 and
 the game  of ,nerd as invented by the  

,persian king ,ardeshir4    ,we often   
come across names like ,dhia-ad-,din    
,abu ,said ,bahrain ,ibn  al-,khidr1    
just as we have ,paul ,pakiam indicating
 the bearer of the name  was originally 
,hindu but had adopted subsequently     
,christianity4 7,p4  #bif74             
,sidenote3 ,nominal converts4           
,abl-,hasan ,mihyar ,ibn ,mirzawaih1 a  
native of ,dadam and secretary for      
,persian language was a                 
,fire-worshipper1 but afterwards adopted
 the  ,moslem faith4 ,it is said that he
 made his profession to ,sharif ar-,rida
  who was his professor and under whom  
he made his poetical studies4 ,it       
seems1 however1 the conversion of       
,mihyar was only nominal4 ,ibn al-,athir
  al-,jazari says in his ,annals that   
one ,ibn ,burhan said to him4 ,mihyar1  
by becoming a ,musalman you have merely 
passed from one corner of hell to       
another4 ,how so8 said ,mihyar4 ,ibn    
,burhan replied3 ,because you were      
formerly a fire-worshipper and now you  

revile the companions of our  blessed   
,prophet in your verses4 7,p4 #eag47    
,ibn ,khallikan adds that ,mihyar and   
,mirzawaith are both ,persian names4    
,their signification is unknown to me4  
,,volume ,,iii4    ,instances of hybrid 
compound names1 the ,iranian component  
being  retained4    ,izz ad-,din        
,kaikaus son of ,ghiath ad-,din         
,kaikhosru4 7,p4 #dhg74    ,ala ad-,din 
,kaikobad4 7,p4 #dhi74    ,abu ,mahfuz  
,ibn ,firuz4 7,p4 #chd74    ,abu ,manzur
 ,al ,muzaffar ,ibn ,abi ,i-,husain     
,ardeshir4 7,p4 #cfe74    ,abu          
,mansur-,sheherdar ,ibn ,shiruyah4 7,p4 
#aa74    ,sultan ad-,dawlat1            
,fanakhrosru 7which is no doubt         
equivalent to ,panah  ,khurso47 7,p4    
#bgh74    ,the word abna signifies sons4
 ,it was generally employed to designate
  persons one of whose parents was an   
,arab and the other of a foreign  race4 
,at the time of ,mahomed and afterwards 
there was in ,yeman a great  number of  
,abna whose fathers were ,persians and  

whose mothers were  ,arabs4 7,p4 #ccd74 
,dress of the ,ulema4 7,p4 #bgc74       
,yahya ,ibn al ,munajjim whose real name
 was ,abban ,hasis1 the son of ,kad1    
the son of ,mahavindad1 the son of      
,farrukhdad1 the son of ,asad1 the son  
of ,mihr1 the son of ,yezdigerd1 the    
last of the ,sasanian kings of ,persia4 
,story of the onagar with the           
inscription on its ear written by       
,bahramgor  in the ,kufic character4    
,ibn ,khallikan quotes ,al ,khawarezmi's
  ,mafatih-al-,ulum4 7,p4 #he74         
,sidenote3 ,old castles4    ,istakhri   
refers to the castle of ,jiss in the    
district of ,arrajan about  which we    
have a more exhaustive notice by other  
writers4 ,here lived the  ,magians1 says
 ,istakhri1 and here also are to be     
found memorials of the  past of ,persia4
 ,the place is strongly fortified4 ,the 
castle of ,iraj is  also strongly       
fortified4 ,the fastnesses which cannot 
be subjugated are  so many that it is   
not possible to detail them4            

,describing the city of ,jur ,istakhri  
says that it was built by ,ardeshir4    
,it is said that here water used to be  
collected as in a lake4 ,the king  had  
taken a vow to build a city and to erect
 a fire temple at the place  where he   
had defeated his enemy4 ,he had the     
place drained1 and when it  was dried he
 built the city of ,jur on the site4    
,the city in its extent  is like        
,istakhr1 ,sabur1 and ,darabgird4 ,it   
had mud walls and moats and  many gates1
 the eastern one being called the gate  
of ,mihr1 the western  the gate of      
,bahram1 the northern the gate of       
,hormuz1 and the southern  the gate of  
,ardeshir4 ,in the centre of the city is
 a building with a  cupola built by     
,ardeshir4 ,it is said that it is so    
high that it commands  a view of the    
city and its surroundings4 ,high at its 
top is a fire  altar4#a 7,p4 #ef74      
,sidenote3 ,languages of ,iran4    ,in  
another portion of his book ,istakhri   
describes the inhabitants as  thin1 with

 little growth of hair and of brown     
colour4 ,in the colder  tracts1 he      
continues1 the people are of a taller   
stature with a thick  growth of hair and
 very fair4 ,they speak three           
languages1--the ,parsi1  which everybody
 speaks and which is employed in their  
letters and their  literature2 the      
,magians who dwell among them use the   
,pahlavi in their  writings1 but it     
needs for a thorough understanding an   
explanation in  ,parsi2 and ,arabic     
which is the language used in the       
correspondence of  the ,sultan1 the     
,government ,boards1 the grandees and   
the ,amirs4 7,p4 #fg74    ,footnote #a3 
,this goes to confirm the hypothesis of 
,sir ,john ,marshall  that the curious  
structure with probably a fire-altar at 
the top  excavated by him at ,taxila    
near ,rawal ,pindi is a ,zoroastrian    
atash-kadeh4    ,sidenote3 ,tardy       
,converts4    ,in the same place he     
makes mention of a numerous settlement  
of the  ,magians4 ,here are1 he says1 a 

goodly number of ,magians in the        
neighbourhood of ,istakhr4 ,there is a  
large stone building with carvings  and 
pillars about which the ,persians relate
 that it is the mosque of  ,solomon2 the
 son of ,david1 and that it is the work 
of genii4 ,in bulk it  is comparable to 
the buildings in ,syria and ,egypt ,in  
the neighborhood  of ,sabur is a        
mountain on which the representations of
 all the kings1  governors1 servitors of
 temples and grand mobeds who were      
celebrated in  the times of the ,persian
 monarchy are to be found4 ,on the      
pedestals of  these figures are engraved
 the events in connection with and the  
deeds  of these personages4 ,describing 
the ,karen mountains ,itakhri says1 ,the
  mountainous region is inaccessible and
 the inhabitants hold commerce  with no 
one outside4 ,during the ,omayad period 
they persisted in their  adherence to   
,zoroastrianism1 and they could not be  
subjugated1 and were  worse than the    
inhabitants of the ,koz mountain4 ,but  

when the ,abbasides  came to power they 
embraced ,islam4 ,these ,magians were   
extraordinarily  brave4 ,yakub and ,amru
 the sons of ,leith1 commenced their    
rule and power  here and drew their     
supporters from these hills4 ,mokan1    
says  ,istakhri1 contains many villages 
which are inhabited by the ,magians4    
7,p4 #ga47      ,,mesopotamia ,,and     
,,persia ,,in ,,the ,,fourteenth        
,,century4    ,,in ,,the ,,nuzhat ,,al  
,,kulub ,,of ,,hamd-,,allah             
,,mustawfi    ,,by ,g4 ,lestrange4      
,the following fire-temples are         
mentioned3--,at ,transcriber's note3    
word  unreadable there was an ancient   
fire temple called ,ardahish4 7,p4 #ef7 
,a dragon was slain by king ,kaikaushro 
who then built on the spot a fire       
temple afterwards known as ,dayr        
,kushid4 7,p4 #fi74    ,turshid was the 
chief city of the ,kohistan province and
 near it was the  village ,kishwaz      
famous for the great cypress trees      
planted by ,zoroaster  as related by    

,firdausi in the ,shah ,nameh1 7,turner1
 #a4 ,macar ,vol4 #d1 line  #ajfa74     
,near ,tushiz were four famous castles  
one of which was called  ,arthush ,gah  
or the ,fire temple4 7,p4 #hj74         
,herat was watered by the canals of the 
river ,hari ,rud4 ,it had a famous      
castle called ,sham ,iram built over the
 ruins of an ancient ,fire temple  on a 
mountain two leagues distant from the   
city4 ,mustawfi adds a long  account of 
the town1 its markets and its shrines1  
giving the names of  the various canals 
derived from the ,hari ,rud4 7,p4 #he74 
,,al ,,muqadasi4    7,,bibliotheca      
,,indica7    ,sidenote3 ,zoroastrians   
are treated like ,jews and ,christians4 
,the religious bodies which enjoy rights
 of subjects under the protection  of   
law are four1--the ,jews1 the           
,christians1 the ,majus1 and the        
,sabiah4  7,p4 #fg-fi74    ,sidenote3   
,nauruz and ,miherjan4    ,the          
worshippers of idols in ,sind are not of
 the ,dhimma1 nor those under  the      

protection of ,islam2 it is on this     
account that they are exempted  from the
 poll tax4 ,the ,majus are counted with 
the ,dhimma2 for ,omar  ordered them to 
be treated in the same way as the people
 of the book  7the ,jews and            
,christians27 the fact that we call the 
followers of one  and the same code of  
doctrines by two names1 one of praise   
and one of  blame1 does not arise from  
eulogising or reviling on our part2 our 
object is merely to shew what others    
think of any sect1 and by what  names   
they call them4 7,p4 #g74               
,,thaalibi4    ,,edited ,,and           
,,translated ,,by ,h4 ,,zotenberg4      
,and ,behram was matchless among kings1 
perfect in manners and facile of        
tongue4 ,for he used to converse on the 
days of public assemblies and  courtly  
meetings in ,arabic and in matters of   
receiving petitions and  granting of the
 gifts in ,persian1 and when giving     
public audiences he  used the ,dari     
language1 and when playing polo he used 

,pahlavi1 and  ,turkish while at war1   
and when out hunting the language of    
,zabulistan  and in legal matters       
,hebrew1 in questions of medicine the   
,indian  language1 in ,astronomy the    
language of the ,greeks1 and while on   
voyage  he used the ,nabatian language  
and while speaking with women he used   
the  speech of ,herat4 7,p4 #eee74      
,that ,thaalibi knew the correct        
distinction between ,pahlavi and        
,persian  can be seen from the fact that
 he says at p4 #fcc of his history with 
reference to the book of ,kalileh wa    
,dimna as follows3--,when ,burzuyeh     
arrived at the court and presented      
himself before ,anushirwan he  recounted
 to him what had happened to him and    
announced to him as a  happy event that 
he was in possession of the book4 ,then 
he made a  present of it to the king4   
7,anushirwan was charmed with it and he 
gave  the order to translate the book   
into ,pahlavi47 ,burzuyeh requested and 
got from the king the permission to     

place at the head of the first  chapter 
the king's name1 and a notice of his    
life4 ,and the book remained  carefully 
guarded with the kings of ,persia until 
,ibn ,muquaffa translated  it into      
,arabic and ,rudaki at the command of   
,amir ,nasr ,ibn ,ahmad turned  it into 
,persian verse4    ,reference to ,kitab 
al ,ain4 7,p4 #ad47    ,reference to the
 murder and burial of the last ,sasanian
 king1 7,p4 #gdh47