Persian Literature, Ancient and Modern. Elizabeth A. Reed
of the manuscript and affixed their valuable notes thereunto.
Cordial thanks are also due to Dr. R. Rost, of the India Office in London, who laid before the artist all the illuminated Persian manuscripts in that vast collection of Eastern lore, and to the honorable Council of the India Office, who placed these rare literary treasures at the author’s service without the customary precaution of taking a bond therefor. The frontispiece is a section of the illuminated title-page of a Persian manuscript of priceless value. This is a copy of the Shāh Nāmah, which is a large folio, the pages being beautifully written in four columns. Each page is illuminated with delicate paintings, which are a triumph of art. This old manuscript, which is now invaluable, was purchased for the India House Collection at the celebrated Hastings sale about twenty-five years since. Our illustration gives only a portion of the page, and thus the full size of the figure has been preserved, which is far better than to mar the beauty of the work by reducing it.
The author is also desirous of expressing thanks to S.C. Griggs & Co. for the beautiful typography of these volumes: it is a matter of congratulation that the courage of this house in assuming the publication of works, which are generally supposed to be needed only by scholars, has been so fully justified.
Carlyle has said, “If a book comes from the heart, it will contrive to reach the hearts of others.” If this be true, no apology is needed for the preparation of these volumes upon Oriental literature, for the work is constantly pursued with an intense love of the subject, and it is hoped that the reader will share to a certain extent the enthusiasm of
THE AUTHOR.
PRONUNCIATION.
A little attention to the diacritical points will enable the reader to readily pronounce the proper names in Persian literature.
These points, however, have been largely omitted in the foot-notes, the system of pronunciation being fully indicated in the body of the book.
| A—a | is pronounced as in | rural. |
| Ā—ā | ” ” | tar, father, etc. |
| I—i | ” ” | fill. |
| Ī—ī | ” ” | police. |
| U—u | ” ” | full. |
| Ū—ū | ” ” | rude. |
| Ṛi—ṛi | ” ” | merrily. |
| Ṛī—ṛī | ” ” | marine. |
| Ṉ—ṉ | ” ” | like n in the French mon. |
| Ṇ—ṇ | ” ” | none (ṇuṇ). |
| Ḥ—ḥ | is a distinct aspirate. | |
| Kh—kh | sounded like ch in | church. |
| Kh—kh | pronounced as in | inkhorn. |
| Ć—ć | ” ” | as ch in church. |
| Ćh—ćh | ” ” | churchhill. |
| Ṭ—ṭ | ” ” | true |
| Ṭh—ṭh | ” ” | anthill. |
| Ḍ—ḍ | ” ” | drum. |
| Ḍh—ḍh | ” ” | red haired. |
| Ś—ś | ” ” | sure. |
Fac Simile of a Portion of a Page of the Oldest Zend Manuscript.
(See Page 117.
PERSIAN LITERATURE.
DIVISION I.
The Early Tablets and Mythology.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORIC OUTLINE.
ORIGIN OF PERSIAN LITERATURE—ACCAD AND SUMER—LITERATURE OF NINEVEH—BABYLON—ĪRĀN OR PERSIA—PHYSICAL FEATURES—PERSIAN ART—MANUSCRIPTS—EARLY LITERATURE—THE ARABIAN CONQUEST—LITERATURE OF MODERN PERSIA—PERSIAN ROMANCE.
Every nation has a literature peculiarly her own, even though it may find its sources in foreign fields. As Persia was founded upon the ruins of more ancient monarchies, as she gathered into the halls of her kings the spoils of conquered nations, so also her literature was enriched by the philosophy and science, the poetry and mythology of her predecessors. The resistless horde, which poured down from the mountains and swept all of Western Asia into its current, formed the kindred tribes into a single monarchy, and this monarchy gathered unto herself, not only the wealth and military glory, but also the culture and learning of the nations she had conquered. The whole civilized world was taxed to maintain the splendors of her court; the imperial purple was found in the city of Tyre, and her fleets also came from Phœnicia, for the experience of this maritime people was indispensable to their Persian masters. Indian groves furnished the costly woods of aloe and of sandal that burned upon her altars, while Syria and the islands of the sea filled her flagons with wine.
The richest fruits were brought from the sunny shores of Malay, and even the desert sent tributes of incense and gold. Herds of camels came from Yemen, and horses of the finest Arabian blood were found in the royal stables. What wonder, then, that the nation which rifled continents to supply her magnificence should appropriate also the wealth of the world of letters that came under her sway? In the background of Persian power there lies an historic past which is replete with the literary treasures of the Orient.
ACCAD AND SUMER.
There is the far away land of ancient Babylonia, with her territory divided into Accad[1] and Sumer or Shinar. These were the northern and southern divisions of the country.
According to Prof. Sayce, “the whole of Babylonia was originally inhabited by a non-Semitic race, but the Semites established their power in Accad, or North Babylonia, at an earlier date than they did in Sumer in the south; the non-Semitic dynasties and culture lingered longer therefore in Sumer.”[2]
Their land was the home of the palm tree, and from the highlands, where their rivers found their source, down to the shores of the Persian Gulf, it presented a wealth of foliage and blossoms. Fields that were covered with ripening grain awaited the sickle of the reaper, while the fruit trees bent beneath their burdens, and the vines gleamed in the sunlight with clusters of gold and purple.
Although we know little of this primitive people, a few of their imperishable records have come down to us, and light is thus thrown upon the literary culture which prevailed from the Euphrates to the Nile long before the Exodus. We have the inscriptions[3] of Dungi, the king of “Ur of the Chaldees,” and also “king of Sumer and Accad.” We have, too, a portion of the clay tablets recounting the glory of Sargon I, who carried his conquests into the land of the Elamites, and even subdued the Hittites in northern Syria. The independent states of Babylonia also were brought under his sway, and he claimed to be “the sovereign of the four regions of the world,” while his Accadian subjects gave him the name of “the king of justice and the deviser of prosperity.” He was the patron of letters, and in the library[4] of this old Semitic king, in the city of Accad, there was written on pages of clay a work on astronomy and astrology in seventy-two books.
Long before the poets of India, of Greece or of Persia began to weave their gorgeous web of mythology, the seers of Accad and of Shinar watched beside the great loom of Nature, as she wove out the curtains of the morning and the crimson draperies of the setting sun. They listened to the battle of the elements around their mountain peaks, and dreamt