AYENEH-YE-PAZHOOHESH
Year:2024 | Volume:35 | Issue:2 (پیاپی 206)|Papers Count:19

In this article, the author introduces the first public library in Iran, located in the city of Tabriz. The article details the establishment and development of this library, including its activities, founders, directors, benefactors, and more. Furthermore, it discusses the Central National Library of Iran, the first national library established in Tehran during the reign of Muẓaffar al-Din Shah. The article explores the foundation, management, benefactors, the diversity of books, and other aspects of the library. Finally, a list of the initial books held by these two libraries is provided.

Endowing Qurans by Shia and Sunni women in ancient Islamic centuries was a common practice, and numerous examples of these can be found in the library of Astan-e Quds Razavi. Amiratī bint Abī al-‘Abbās al-Ḥamrā'ī, likely a Shia woman from the 5th century AH, endowed a thirty-fragment Quran in Iranian Kufic script to the shrine of Imam Reza (AS). This article provides a historical overview of this manuscript and its endower, describes its textual and artistic features, and demonstrates that fragments of this endowment have dispersed over time, now found in the National Library of France (Arabe 7263), the shrine of Imam Hussein (AS), and the Central Library of Tehran University (4631), or have been sold in various European auctions.

In the present article, the author has examined the texts of several manuscripts as the thirty-eighth essay of the series titled "Reading Manuscripts." The text investigates the manuscripts, including:"The Journey of Nasser al-Din Shah to the Holy Shrines" by Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Shahrestani"Letter of Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Defense of the People of Ardabil Against Babak Khoramdin""A Note of Value Regarding the Gifts of Books, etc., from Shah Abbas I to Sultan Murad in the Year 998""Report (from the Year 1231 AH / 1816 CE) on the Invention of the Camera in Europe""A Poem Criticizing Constitutionalism""The Relationship between Scholars and Rulers from the Perspective of a Scholar in the Safavid Era"These manuscripts are critically examined and discussed in detail in the article.

"Sandbadnameh" by Ẓahīr al-Din Samarqandī is one of the most famous literary works from the 6th century AH. This book is a prime example of ornate prose, which holds significant importance in stylistic studies of elaborate prose. The work is adorned with literary devices, verses from the Quran, Hadiths, and Arabic and Persian poetry. It comprises 33 narrative sections, with Arabic poetry found in 26 of them. Some of the stories include: "The Village Chief with His Wife and the Parrot," "The Farmer's Wife with the Grocer," "The Merchant's Wife and Her Husband," "The King of Kashmir's Story," "The Story of the Male and Female Partridge," "The Farmer's Wife with the Grocer," "The Prince's Story with the Minister and the Ogres," "The Soldier and the Child with the Cat and the Snake," "The Bear, the Monkey, and the Fig Tree," "The Prince with the Bathhouse Attendant and the Woman," "The Tale of Love, the Old Man, and the Crying Dog," and "The Hunter, the Dog, the Honey, and the Grocer." This article examines the authenticity of the Arabic verses in "Sandbadnameh," their translations, and traces the poets. It also analyzes the emphasis, descriptive and metaphorical purposes of the verses within the narrative's thematic and rhetorical contexts.

In the first section of "Writings (7)", efforts are made to determine the correct origin of "eskār-", the impersonal verb "to want", in the dialects of Ardakani and Kharg Island. Following this, we attempt to justify the term "gūshāsp" (meaning "dream; vision") and also explain "āthar". In the third section, examples of a linguistic construction are cited, which until now have often been attributed solely to the poetic features of Sa’di''s language. With this evidence, the author demonstrates that this construction is not unique to Sa’di, nor is it exclusive to poetic Persian, contrary to previous belief. Next, an unusual spelling feature of Persian script is discussed, followed by a note from Shlomo Dov Gottlieb regarding an early Persian-Jewish text from Ahvaz that has hitherto been overlooked. The final section provides a summary translation of some sections related to several Aramaic-derived words in ancient Persian, within the entry "Lurrai" of the Encyclopaedia Iranica.

The history of the first printed Persian book does not significantly relate to the introduction of the printing and publishing industry in Iran. The printing of Persian books in European countries and its precedence over Iran has a long history. This article focuses on Persian books and magazines printed in Germany, especially at two prominent printing houses: "Kaviani" and "Iranshahr." These printing houses were established and operated by a group of young Iranians with the goal of spreading new ideas and promoting development based on modern world standards. One of their achievements was the preservation and revival of valuable and authentic Iranian texts, protecting them from oblivion and destruction. A review of the resources from these printing houses, particularly Kaviani and Iranshahr, indicates that they were among the top printing houses in terms of equipment and facilities, utilizing the best typefaces and the most advanced machinery available in European printing houses. Their typefaces were sourced from renowned type foundries in Germany. The use of high-quality paper and the application of color in miniatures and photographs were other notable features. At the end of this writing, to facilitate access to German-printed books in contemporary libraries, the resources available in Ayatollah Boroujerdi Library (Qom) are examined, and an inventory of available resources in this library is provided.

Islam’s concern with the "past," the central role it assigns itself in the history of the world, and the patterns it adopts from the Bible to document its own history are well-known aspects. This article aims to provide a detailed and precise examination of a specific aspect of Islam's perception of the past, namely the past as a source of legitimacy for authority. This topic has been discussed previously but only within the broader context of other instruments of legitimacy in Islam. Here, we will focus particularly on the Umayyad dynasty's use of the past to legitimize their rule.

Shihāb al-Dīn Abu''''l- Ḥasan Ṭalheh Mivazī was a prominent quatrain poet of the late 5th and early 6th centuries Hijri. His name first appears in Tadhkirat al-Lubāb -ul-Albāb by Sadīd al-Dīn Muḥammad ‘Awfī in the section on poets of Khorasan. ‘Awfī has quoted eighteen quatrains from Ṭalheh’s works, and other biographers have also recorded these details and poems in their books. Seifī Neishābūrī, in the late 6th century Hijri, cited Ṭalheh''''s quatrains in his book "Rasā''''il al-''''Ushāq" and included 34 couplets in the midst of his writings. "Nuzhat al-Majālis" by Jamāl Khalīl Shirwānī is another important source on the quatrains of Abu''''l-Ḥasan Ṭalheh. In this article, the scarce information about the life of this poet and 85 quatrains attributed to him is provided from the three mentioned sources and five other references. The predominant themes of Ṭalheh''''s quatrains revolve around love and the depiction of the states of lover and beloved.

These notes discuss several words and expressions in the Shahnameh that have been subjects of debate among scholars of the text. In each case, the current understanding by literary experts remains incomplete. The words and expressions in question are: “Shahr-e Iran”, “Bargvā”, “Rakhteh”, and “Sūgvār”. Referring to texts and documents from pre-Islamic languages can shed more light on the meanings of these terms.

 Among the criticisms of Mohammad ibn Ismā’īl Bukhārī, the author of the book "al-Jāmi' al-Ṣaḥīḥ", is the refutation and invalidation of his fatwa regarding the prohibition and sanctity of marriage between two infants who have been nursed by the milk of the same animal during the period of fosterage. This fatwa led to Bukhari's expulsion from Bukhara and became symbolic of his deviance in Islamic jurisprudence. This fatwa's attribution to Bukhārī is ancient and venerable in Sunni jurisprudential-historical sources. Alongside the criticisms of Sunni scholars on this fatwa, in recent centuries, some Shia researchers have also criticized this fatwa, highlighting its weaknesses and flaws. The defence of Bukhārī's issuance of this fatwa denies its authenticity, attributing it to opponents of Bukhārī and considering such deviant and flawed fatwas as an undermining of Bukhārī's jurisprudence. Among the recent defenders of Bukhārī is Dr. Nabīl Balhī, who, in his recent research, not only denies the attribution of this fatwa to Bukhārī but also provides a rebuttal to criticisms by Shia researchers against the fatwa attributed to Bukhārī. Balhī has reintegrated the issue of fosterage from Shia jurisprudential heritage similar to the fatwa attributed to Bukhārī, thereby considering the criticisms levelled against Bukhārī's fatwa as an intrusion into Shia jurisprudence. In part of his research, he refers to the fatwa of Qāḍī Ibn Barrāj, a Shia jurist from the 5th century, who declared the consumption of animal meat which consumed milk from a human after birth, as reprehensible. Balhī, through a comparative approach of these two fatwas, warns Shia critics of Bukhārī's Ṣaḥīḥ collection to refrain from criticizing Bukhari, as similar contentious fatwas exist in the heritage of Shia jurisprudence. The main issue of this article is to validate Nabīl Balhī's research methodology and his presuppositions in critiquing Shia jurisprudence, with a focus on Ibn Barrāj's fatwa, analysed through a critical analysis approach.

Ibn Khafīf Shirazi was one of the greatest Sufis of the 4th century AH and the chief Sheikh of Shiraz. He studied under eminent scholars of his time in jurisprudence, hadith, theology, and mysticism, including Abu al-Hasan Ash'ari, Ruwaym Baghdadi, and Hallaj. Ibn Khafīf produced numerous works, but today only a handful of his writings have reached us in the form of a few treatises. In addition to these works, hundreds of quotations from him exist in mystical, historical, and theological texts. Over the past seven decades, scattered efforts have been made to authenticate and present the surviving works of Ibn Khafīf, which have underscored the need for compiling a comprehensive collection of his works. Last year (1402 AH), a two-volume book titled "Collected Works of Ibn Khafīf Shirazi," compiled by Moein Kazemi Far, was introduced to the scholarly community. The first volume of the book includes "Awṣāf al-Qulūb" attributed to Ibn Khafīf, while the second volume reprints five treatises by Ibn Khafīf along with their translations. Unfortunately, this collection has many shortcomings to the extent that it cannot adequately fill the void of the "Collected Works of Ibn Khafeef," and we must still await further discoveries and efforts. This article discusses some of the deficiencies found in this collection.

The book “Arabs and Iranians in the Islamic Conquest Narrative” is a specialized work that delves into the events known as the Arab conquests of Iran. However, its translation was undertaken by a translator unfamiliar with the basic principles of history, resulting in a text rife with glaring errors. This chapter aims to highlight the numerous flaws and deficiencies in the translation of the book, to illustrate to non-specialist readers and enthusiasts the potential scientific disasters that can ensue when one ventures into specialized fields without even a basic understanding of the relevant principles. The author of these lines hopes that this example will serve as a lesson to them.

The evidence presented in this issue, with a greater focus on the old translation, is categorized into three main areas: 1. Excessive literal translation; 2. Certain mistakes; 3. The nuances of Arabic translations in the old translation (a new focus). In other words, aside from the third area, which is introduced here for the first time, the other pieces of evidence in this article fall under the same previous categories and complement them.

In recent years, the editing of classical texts has captivated many enthusiasts. However, like all endeavors, this task requires certain skills and qualifications that not everyone possesses. Consequently, many ancient texts presented today as "editions" are riddled with serious errors and contribute to cultural and intellectual losses. Among the recently published works is "The Divan of Mahmoud Bakrani" and "The Divan of Rukn Bakrani," which the editors have unfortunately filled with glaring and numerous errors. In this article, we highlight some of these numerous mistakes.

The treatise " Tohfi-ye-Sulaimani" is the Persian translation of the "Bayān-e ʿAqāyid-e Awliyāʾ Allāh" (in Turkish, "Aqāyid-e Awliyāʾ Sabʿa"). The original Turkish work was authored by Sultan Mahmoud bin Burhanuddin Zahedi, and the Persian translation was done by Mohammad Rafi' Zahedi (known as Pirzadeh), a descendant of Sultan Mahmoud. Pirzadeh himself notes that the statements in this treatise are concise and thus, for interpretation, he has referred to the explanations of his teacher, Mulla Rajabali Tabrizi. Therefore, " Tohfi-ye-Sulaimani" is a significant work wherein two main subjects can be found: 1. Information about the Safavid and Zahedi Sufi orders; 2. The teachings of Mulla Rajabali Tabrizi. The main topic of this article is a critique of the introduction by Professor Dr. Hamed Naji Esfahani to “Tohfi-ye-Sulaimani". The method of data collection is library-based, and the data analysis method will be descriptive-analytical. The summary conclusion of this article is that the respected editor's introduction requires serious revision.

Translating the Quran into any languages involves numerous challenges. A Quran translator must undertake the translation with a full understanding of these challenges, complete knowledge of translation techniques, and avoid any haste. Neglecting or underestimating these challenges can lead to errors that are not befitting for the Quran. This article, presented through an analytical and critical approach, examines some of these challenges and errors to emphasize the significance of the topic.