Journal article
The Siyar al-mulūk of ʿUmar b. Dāwūd al-Fārisī: A Quasi-Plagiaristic Translation of Kalīla and Dimna
Journal of Abbasid studies, Vol.9(1-2), pp.72-104
24 Mar 2023
Abstract
In this article, we carry out an introductory study of a little-known text titled
Siyar al-mulūk
, written in the late seventh/thirteenth century by an author named ʿUmar b. Dāwūd al-Fārisī, and dedicated to an Ayyubid
amīr
of Hama. There is only one known extant copy of this work, which belongs to the collection of the Topkapı Palace Library and dates to 727/1327. ʿUmar b. Dāwūd presents what he has written, confusingly, as an “arabicization” (
taʿrīb
) of the classic book of fables,
Kalīla and Dimna —
one of the most famous versions of which was already in Arabic. In fact, the
Siyar al-mulūk
is a translation; but it is derived from the sixth/twelfth century Persian rendition of
Kalīla and Dimna
by Naṣr Allāh Munshī. Analyzing how this text relates to its sources is made somewhat more difficult by ʿUmar b. Dāwūd’s decision not to name any of them. Once the connection to the work of Naṣr Allāh is recognized, however, the
Siyar al-mulūk
emerges as a case study in both the evolution of
Kalīla and Dimna
as a global textual tradition and the transmission of Persian literature and scholarship to the Arab lands in the Mongol-Ayyubid-Mamluk period.
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Details
- Title
- The Siyar al-mulūk of ʿUmar b. Dāwūd al-Fārisī: A Quasi-Plagiaristic Translation of Kalīla and Dimna
- Creators
- Theodore S. Beers - Freie Universität BerlinKhouloud Khalfallah - Freie Universität Berlin
- Publication Details
- Journal of Abbasid studies, Vol.9(1-2), pp.72-104
- Number of pages
- 33
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Computing and Informatics; Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85168016039
- Other Identifier
- 991022051413504721