A critical examination of the translation of the story of “The Trial of Man and Animal”, originally belonging to the Ekhvān al-Safā’s Epistles and included in Konuz al- Wadi’a men Romuz al-Zari’a

Of the story of Mohākeme-ye Ensān va Heyvān (Man and Animal) in the scientific, philosophical, and religious epistles of the Ekhvān al-Safā (Ekhvān al-Safā’s Epistles), there exist several translations in Persian and some other languages. The present survey is intended to introduce a translation of this story contained in the book Konuz al-Wadi’a men romuz al-Zari’a, written by Ebn-e Zāfer of Shiraz, being itself a translation of Al-Zari’a elā Makārem al-Shari’a by Ragheb-e Esfahāni. Besides introducing this translation and studying the degree of the translator’s comprehension of the story, the article demonstrates that the translator, in the manner of the original text, has summarized the story and rendered it in an obfuscate language and affected prose, making certain additions or omissions depending on the subject matter.