Revised Translation of the Chahr Maqla ("Four Discourses") of Nizm-I
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) -> I ] E. J. W. GIBB MEMORIAL SERIES VOL. XI. 2 \ 1 .. REVISED TRANSLATION- OF THE ., CHAHAR MAQALA - ("FQUR DISCOURSES") OF NIZAMi-I-'ARUDi ' J OF SAMARQAND, * FOLLOWED BY AN ABRIDGED TRANSLATION OF MIRZA MUHAMMAD'S NOTES TO THE t PERSIAN TEXT BY EDWARD G. BROWNE, M.A., M.B., F.B.A., F.R.C.P. PP.INTED BY THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS FOR THE TRUSTEES OF THE "E. J. W. GIBB MEMORIAL" AND PUBLISHED BY MESSRS LUZAC & CO., '46, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1921 ' t . S . c . * . "E. ?! W. GIBB MEMORIAL" PUBLICATIONS. * t)ZZ> SERIES. (25 works, 37 published volumes.) I. Bahur-nama (Turki text, /ac-simile), ed. Beveridg'j, 1905. ' ; ' Out ofprint. r II. History o i Tabaristan of lion Isfandiyar, abridged transl. Browne, 1905, Ss. ft III, 1-5. History of Rasiili dynasty of Yaman by al-lhaz- 2 raji; I, transl. of Sir James Rediouse, 1907-8, "js. each; Annotations the Arabic text ed. 3, by same, 1908, 55. ; 4, 5, Muhammad 'Asal, 1908-1913, Ss. <each. IV. Omayyads and 'Abbasids, transl. Margoliouth from the % 9 Arabic of G. Zaidqn, 1907, 5^. V. travels of Jbn Jiibayr, Arabic text, ed. de Goeje, 1907, IOJ. VI, 1/2, 3, 5, 5. Yaqut's Diet, of learned men (Irshddu- Arabic ed. 'l-Arib\ text, M argoliouth,,1908-1*9 13 ; 205., 125., ,105-., 15^., 15-r. respectively. VII, i, 5, 6. Tajaribu'1-Umam of Miskawayhi (Arabic text, fac-simile), ed. le Strange and others, 1909-1917, 7^. each vol. VIII. 'MarzuDan-nama (Persian text), ed. Mirza Muhammad, 1909, I2S. IX. Textes Houroufis (French and Persian), by HuaX and IQS. Riza Tevfiq, 1909, X. Mu'jam, an old Persian system of prosody, by Shams-i-Qays, i ed. Mirza Muhammad, 1909, 15$. 2. Persian' ed. and annotated XX i, Chahar Maqala ; i, text, by Mirza Muhammad, IQIO, 125.*; 2, English transl. and notes by Browne, 1921, 155. t , XII. Introduction a 1'Histoire des Mongols, by Blochet, 1910, io.y. b. XIII. Ditoan of Hassan Thab'it (Arabic tei5ct), ed. Hirsch- feld, 1910, 75. 6d. XIV, i, 2. Ta'rikh-i-Guzida of Hamdu'llah Mustawfi; i, Persian'text, fac-simile, 1911, 155.; 2, Abridged translation ' and Indices by Browne, 1914, ioj. XV. Nuqtatu'l-Kaf (Histr,y of the Babis) by Mirza Jani (Persian text), ed. Browne, 1911, i2s. XVI, i, 2, 3. T'a'rfkh-i-Jahan-gushay of Juwayni, Persian * text, ed. Mirza Muhammad; i, Mongols, 1913. 15^.; 2, in , Khwarazmsljahs, 1917, 15-f-; 3, Assassins, preparation. XVII. Kashfu'l-Mahjub (Stiff doctrine), transl. Nicholson, 1911, ' S - *>5 XVIII, 2 (all hitherto published), Jami'u't-Tavyarikh of Rashi- du'd-Din Fadlu'llah (Persian text), ed. and annotated by ' Blochet, 1912, 15.5-. ,XIX. Kitabu'1-Wv-.lat of al-Kindi (Arabic text), ed. Guest, J 5-r- , XX. Kitabu'l-Ansab of as-Sam'ani (Arabic text; fac-simile), ' 1913, 20*. XXI. Dfwans of 'Amir b. at-Tufayl and 'Abid b. al-Abras (Arabic text and transl. by Sir Charles J. Lyall), 1914. 125. XXII. Kitabu'l-Lum'a^Arabic, text), ed. Nicholson, 1915, 155. 2. XXIII, i, -Nuzhatu-'l-Qulub-of Hamdu'llah Mustawfi ; I, Persian ed. le Bs. transl. text, Strange, igif, ; 2, English le Strange, 1918, 8*. XXIV. Shamsu'l-'Ulum of Nashwan al-Himyari, extracts from the Arabic text with' German Introduction and Notes by 'Aximu'd- Din Ahmad, 1917, 5$. [XXV. Dfwans of at-Tufayl b. 'Awf and at-Tinmmah b. Hakim (Arabic text), ed. Krenkow> in preparation.] NEW SERIES. Rahatu's-Sudur (History of Saljiiqs) of ar-Rawandi, Persian text, ed. Muhammad Iqbal (in the Press). Fars-nama of Ibnu'l-Balkhi, Persian iext, ed. le Strange and Nicholson (in the Press). Letters of Rashidu'd-Din Fadlu'llaii. abridged English transl. by Muhammad Shaff, followed by transl. of Tansuq-nama (on Precious stones) by the late Sir A. Houtum-Schindler (in preparation). Mazandaran, topography of, and travels in, by H. L. Rabino, with Map. <6 This Volume is one > a Series 9 of o published by the Trustees of the "E. y. w. GIBB MEMORIAL:' The Funds of this Memorial are derived from the Interest accruing from a Sum of money given by the late MRS GIBB of Glasgow, to the son perpetuate 3 Menwry of her beloved ELIAS JOHN WILKINSON GIBB, > and to promote those researches into the History, Literature, Philo- find the Persians and to sophy Religion of Turks, ^ Arabs, which, from his Youth upwards, until his premature and deeply lamented Death in his forty-fifth year, on December 5, 1901, his life was devojed. > o-.- j\S }\ J\ Vu* yjttU " _ These are our works, these works our souls display ; Behold far works when we have passed away" i f f "E. y. W. GIBB MEMORIAL" : c ORIGINAL TRUSTEES. {JANE GIBB, died November r6, '1904.] E. G. BROWNE, G. LE STRANGE, F. died [H. AMEDROZ, March 17, 1917.] < A. G. ELLIS, c R. A. NICHOLSON, SIR E. DENISON ROSS, * ADDITIONAL TRUSTEE. IDA W. E. OGILVY GREGORY, appointed 1905. CLERK OF THE TRUST. W. L. RAYNES,' 13, Sidney Street, CAMBRIDGE. l < < < PUBLISHER FOR THE TRUSTEES. c MESSRS LUZAC <5^ Co., 46, Great Russell Street, LONDON, H'.V. * \ PREFACE . r I ^\VO reasons haVe led me *o publish this revised translation -*- of the Chahdr Maqdla* or "Four Discourses," of Nizaifif-i- 'Arudi of Samarqand. The first is that the translation which I originally published in the July and October numbers of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1899, and which also a is is appeared |is separate reprint, exhausted, and now hardly sbtainable. The seccflid is that that translation contains many defects and errors which it is now possible to amend and correct, partly through the learning and critical acumen brought to bear on the text by Mi'rza Muhammad of Qazwfn, whose admirable edition, accompanied by copious critical and historical notes in Persian, was published in this Series (xi, i) in 1910; and partly from the fact that the most ancient and correct MS. of the work at discovered 1 that in the of 'Ashir present , preserved Library Efendi at Constantinople (No. 285), was not available when I matfe my original translation, while it has served as the basis for Mi'rza Muhammad's text. Hence my old translation is not only practically unobtainable, but, ap*rt from the defects inherent in , a first attempt of this sort, no longer entirely corresponds with what is now the accepted Persian text, so that it is at times liable to confuse and puzzle, rather than to help, the student. The old translation l&s been carefully revised throughout, and the proofs have all been read by Mi'rza Muhammad, who supplied many valuable criticisms, together with a good deal of new material in the notes. have also been read t They diligently by Muhammad Iqbal, one of the Government of India Research Studcvnts at Cambridge, who has made, many useful suggestions and saved me from numerous small errors. To these and to other i friends who have helped me in a lesser degree I am deeply in- debted, but,special thanks are due to Mr Ralph Shirley, editor 1 It was copied in Herat in 835/1431-2. , i I i r x . PREFACE . c ( , of the Occult Revieiv, and to Mr W. Gornold for the valuable astrological fTotes with which they have been kind enough to, 1 supply me . To facilitate comparison, the'points in the translation corresponding with the beginning of each <page of the Persian \ext are indicated by the appropriate Arabic numbers. Mirza Muhammad's notes, w.hich in the originaf partake of the nature of a running commentary on the text, though materially sepa- rated from it, and occupy 200 pages (\ VA^, I have, from considerations of space, rearranged and-greatly compressed. The ( shorter ones appear as foot-notes on the pages to which they refer, while the substance of the longer ones,, reduced to a mini- mum, and shorn of many of the pieces justificative* which serve to illustrate them in the original, has been divided according to ( under enumerated in subject-matter thirty-two headings ( fully the following Table of Contents. But although the English notes embody the more important results of Mirza Muhammad's re- searches, it has been necessary, in order to effect the required condensation, to omit many interesting details and quotations of texts accessible only in rare manuscripts, so that those who read are to the Persian with any facility strongly recommended study original commentary. A full account of this work and its author is given both in the C . Persian and English Prefaces to the companion volume containing the text, and it will be sufficient here to summarize the facts set forth more fully in that place. i ' f The Atithor. * Ahmad ibn 'Umar ibn 'All of Samarqand, poetically named " Nizamf and further entitled 'Arudi (the Prosodist ") flowished in the first half of the sixth century of the hijra (tvwslfth of the i Christian era), and seems to have spent most of his life in Khu- rasan and Transoxiana. What we know of him is chjefly derived 1 and and i See Notes xxiv xxxn, pp. 130-4 164-7. p '. , . PREFACE xi from this book, which contains a good deal of autobiographical material. The events in his life to which he refer? lie between j > the years 504/1110-111*1 and 547/1152-3, and ^we find him'siy:- cessively at Samarqand, Balkh, Herat, Tus and Nishapur. He was primarily a poet and coufttier, but, as we learnfrom Anecdotes' XXXI (p.