مجله آینه میراث
سال بیستم شماره 2 (پیاپی 71، پاییز و زمستان 1401)

Part of the Asās al-Eqtebās, like many other books of logic in the Islamic scholarship, is devoted to the art of poetry. These books are largely based on Aristotle’s Poetics, and therefore the contents therein of the part on poetry are mostly adapted from this philosopher’s book of Poetics. However, the process of translation (from Greek into Syriac, from the latter into Arabic and from Arabic into Persian), the commentaries and summaries of the Poetics as well as the unfamiliarity of translators and commentators with the subject matter of the book (the dramatic poetry of ancient Greece), have caused the material taken from the Poetics to become outlandish and sometimes erroneous. The word shahnah in the section on poetry in the Asās al-Eqtebās is a misreading of sahnah meaning look and colour of the face, being an incorrect rendering of the Greek word prosopon denoting “mask” in Greek theatre. Also, the expression akhz be wojuh in the Asās al-Eqtebās is an incorrect translation of the Greek word hypokrisis that means playing role, its agent noun  being hypokrites which denotes “dramatic role player”. As the artists in ancient Greek theatres always wore masks, this word is probably related to dramatic mask. Both expressions (sahnah and prosopon) have found their way from Avicenna’s book of Shefā into Asās al-Eqtebās.

In three resemblant verses in the Shahnameh, there is a word that appears in many manuscripts as gawānji or kawānji. There are several views about this word. Some people have pronounced it as gawānji, some as garānji, some as karānji, and yet some others seem to have accepted all three pronunciations.In the present article, reasons in support of the pronunciation in many manuscripts have been proposed. “aziz” and “gerami” (dear and respectable) have been recognized as the correct meaning of the word. While comparing this word with similar words in pre-Islamic Persian languages, attempts have also been made to establish its etymology. The outcome of this comparison led to the conclusion that gawānji and its other form in pre-Islamic Persian languages, namely Gowanji, the meaning of which has been recorded in some of the old dictionaries as “dear” and “respectable”, probably  shares the same etymology with gawānīg mentioned in Manichean texts in Arsacid Pahlavi also meaning “glorious”, “elegant” and so on.

The Khongārnāma or Khwāngārnāma, a historical poem composed by Mīr Ali b. Mozaffar of Tūs, with the pen-name “Ma’āli” and “Mir Ma’āli”, was dedicated in 878 H/ 1474 to the Ottoman sovereign, Sultan Mohammad Al-Fātih (855-886 H/1451-1481). The Khongārnāma is one of the most important Persian sources on the Ottoman history, some of the dynasties in Iran and Mesopotamia such as the Āq Qoyūnlūs and Qarā Qoyūnlūs, as well as several local rulers like Musha’sha’i dynasty's rulers, and overlords of Hormuz and Bahrain. However, due to the imperfect information presented in the bibliographical descriptions of the sole manuscript of the Khongārnāma, it has not been addressed in the studies related to the history of Iran.In this article, attempts have been made to give some insights regarding the composer of the poem, the features of its text and the historical, social and linguistic information there in.

In this study, attempts have been made to present other recorded pronunciations and readings of some verses and expressions of Sa’di’s Gulistan (based on Foroughi’s and Yusefi’s editions). In this, some of the recordings of those verses and expressions, old expositions of Sa’di’s works such as Seraj al-Din Arezu’s commentary, and that of Ghiyas al-Din Rampuri’s as well as the recordings of Dehkhoda’s Loghat-nameh have been in mind. By taking into consideration the rule: “the more difficult recording is preferable”, one can confirm the accuracy of some of the recommended recordings.In the present article, reference has also been made to the correct pronunciation and interpretations of a number of expressions. All these have been categorized into five groups: (1) thought-provoking recordings in manuscripts and commentaries, (2) preference of Foroughi’s over Yusefi’s recording by providing a new suggestion, (3) revisiting the pronunciation of certain words,  (4) reconsidering the exposition of certain expressions, (5) comparative corrections.

The Syriac text of Yuhanna-ye Tāzi’s life has not been edited and published so far. Like many other Syriac hagiographical texts, it contains invaluable information regarding Iran’s society in the Sasanian era.While providing a brief introduction to the contents of the text, the present study attempts to approximately determine the time and place of the writing of this text. The author’s name is not known, but based on the intratextual evidence, it can be said that this text was written some time between the 7 to 9 H/13-15 centuries by one of the Hiri monks residing in the Mar Yuhanna’s monastery in the Tūr Abdin region, North of Mesopotamia.

The Tarikh-e Jahāngoshāy  (History of the World-Conqueror) written by Atamalek of Juvayn (623-681 H/1226-1282 CE), is a rare work in historiography and Persian literature,  to which a large number of scholarly studies have been devoted. Nonetheless, there are still quite a few queries and uncertainties about the book and its author.The present article, which looks at Juvayni as a political historian and judges him with respect to his professional restraints, provides answers to some of these questions. The findings of this study indicate that the reason for Juvayni failing to address the events following the collapse of the Ismailis was hardly an increase in his occupational burden and lack of time, but was mainly due to his political and ideological inhibitions.  Another part of our findings reveals the fabrication of Juvayn’s two genealogical records and suggests several conjectures as to the origin of the title of The Tarikh-e Jahāngoshāy. and Juvayni’s plan to author a general history in collaboration with others.

In recent years, once in a while in several local Azerbaijan’s publications, wolf has been claimed to be the totem of Azerbaijani people. Certain individuals who call themselves “hoviyyat talab” (identity-seekers), promote such a notion both in their writings and behaviors.In the present article, while presenting the definition and features of the totem, we emphasize that the most important aspect of the totem is its support for those people who regard it as their own common ancestor. Then, by examining wolf in the folklore of Azerbaijan and its echo in the poetry of such Azerbaijani poets as Qatrān, Nezāmi, Khāqāni, Sā’eb, and Shahryār, we have demonstrated that in both areas, wolf is a vicious creature that brings about nothing but evils. Thus, it cannot be the totem of people of Azerbaijan although it might possibly be the totem of the Eastern Turks or Mongols.

From the time of the Timurid Shahrukh’s reign on, governors of Mashhad set up a well-organized apparatus for managing the Astān-e Razavi Complex (Imam Reza’s Shrine in Mashhad); this is understood not only from the detailed endowment deed of the Goharshad Mosque but also from other documents discovered from time to time.In a valuable uninvestigated manuscripts collection that formerly belonged to the Ostad Homā’i’s library, there is a copy of an edict authorizing the collection of offerings and presents donated to Āstān-e Qods, written by Simi of Nishapur, a notable 9th H./15th-century secretary and calligrapher; this being reviewed and examined in the present article.The document informs us that one of the Timurid governors empowered an individual known as Sayyed Ahmad b. Hindu b. Sayyed Hosām al-Din al-Hosayni al-Mashhadi to travel to various places and receive oblational gifts and offerings from those unable to go to Imam Reza’s mausoleum in person, and then transfer them to the Astan-e Qods. This document is an old source associated with one of the significant periods of the expansion of Mashhad and the Razavi Shrine, that is, the first part of the 9th/15th century, therein particular attention has been directed to the city of Mashhad and the Astan-e Qods.

At first glance, the word ʿazrā reminds ever Arabic speaking Muslim and Christian of Mary, who is always remembered with great respect and reverence. The fact that Mary was given the title ʿazrā has a long history which this word has gone through before reaching us. But how did Mary come to be called ʿazrā? Has this word been used to denote “virgin and celibate” from the beginning?This article attempts to historically search the semantic development of the word and elucidate its various meanings as it appears in principal sources.

The studies related to Isma’ili’s history, especially in identifying, correcting, translating, and introducing manuscripts, are among the endeavors the unique example of which can be observed in Vladimir Ivanov’s works. In his studies, Ivanov managed to publish a comprehensive catalogue of the authentic texts about various Isma’ili sects and set to edit, translate, and investigate some of them.This article attempts to critically analyze one of the works corrected by this Russian Orientalist in 1936. Suhail Zakkār also produced in 2007 a second version of the treatise based on a different manuscript. The treatise is entitled Estetār al-Imam wa tafarroq ol-do’āt fi al-jazāyer le-talabehi (The hiding of the Imam and the dispatching of proselytizers to various assigned lands in search of him).On the basis of the third existing manuscript of this Isma’ili treatise, the present study addresses Vladimir Ivanov’s editorial research about it.

Bijan-e Tārikh-e Safavi khwān (Narrator of the Safavid History) is an historiographer who, by writing Rustam Khan-e Gorji’s political and military biography, has gained fame among the Safavid historians. He may have been one of the storytellers who later turned to professional historiography.The present study addresses the question that, in dealing with the historical personality of Rustam Khan, how Bijan thought and what methods he employed in its exposition and elucidation.This article attempts to demonstrate that Bijan takes on no modern perspective of history, but, influenced by Islamic heritage and Persian tradition of the Safavid time, he endeavors to direct his own thought system toward expanding a military hero-oriented outlook while adhering to the principles of traditional perspective which is based on religion, historical lessons and examples, fate and ethics. Additionally, inspired by the literary style current at the time and by applying a mixture of narrational, naqāli (storytelling) and critical methods, Bijan defends the heroic actions taken by Rustam Khan against his foes, rightly and realistically responding to the inquiries raised by the spirit of his time.

In 1394 S./2015, Nasrullah Pourjavadi wrote a book about Baba Tahir Oryān and tried to identify him with one of the Sheikhs of Hadith, Abu Muhammad Tahir bin Al-Hasan Ibn Ibrahim Al-Hamdani, known as "Jassās" (plasterer). A year later, Jamshid Mazaheri wrote an article and strongly criticized this identification. What is published here is a short treatise that explains some observations of Bābā Tāhir, written in the early 9th/15th  century; The importance of this treatise, which could be considered the oldest Persian commentary of Bābā Tahir's words, is that the time of the confusion between these two personalities goes back at least to the first years of the 9th century.