Qabus nama
Encyclopedia
Persian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
from the eleventh century (c. 1080 AD).
It was written by Amir Unsur al-Mo'ali Keikavus ibn Iskandar ibn Qabus ibn Wushmgir ibn al-Ziyar
Shams al-Mo'ali Abol-hasan Ghaboos ibn Wushmgir
Qabus ibn Wushmagir Qabus ibn Wushmagir Qabus ibn Wushmagir (full name and honorific abol-ḥasan qābūs ben wušmagīr ibn ziyar šams al-maʿālī, ; (r. 977–981; 997–1012, d. 1012) was the Ziyarid ruler of Gurgan and Tabaristan in medieval Iran...
, the Ziyarid
Ziyarid
The Ziyarids, also spelled Zeyarids , were an Iranian dynasty that ruled in the Caspian sea provinces of Gorgan and Mazandaran from 928-1043 . The founder of the dynasty was Mardavij , who took advantage of a rebellion in the Samanid army of Iran to seize power in northern Iran...
ruler of Persia, also known as the Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
of Gurgan
Gürgan
Gürgan is a village in Baku, Azerbaijan. It forms part of the municipality of Gürgən-Pirallahı....
, and was dedicated to his son Gilan-Shah.
The belles-lettres
Belles-lettres
Belles-lettres or belles lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. However, the boundaries of that category vary in different usages....
was written in 44 chapters and outlines princely education, manners, and conduct in ethical didactic prose.
Extant original copies
- The oldest copy, dated 1349, belongs to the library of Malik National Museum of IranMalik National Museum of IranMalek National Museum and Library is a museum and national library in Tehran, Iran. Its one of the biggest library of precious manuscripts in Iran. - History :Malek National Library and Museum was stationed at Malek’s historical house until 1966...
in TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
.
- One of the earliest remaining copies of this work is one dating from 1450, translated into Turkish by Marjumak Ahmad ibn Ilias on the orders of the OttomanOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
SultanSultanSultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Murad IIMurad IIMurad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....
. It is kept in the Fatih Library of IstanbulIstanbulIstanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
- The British MuseumBritish MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
keeps a copy of an early Turkish translation, dated 1456.
- Another copy, dated 1474, exists in the Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de FranceThe is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
- An excellent copy is kept at the Leiden UniversityLeiden UniversityLeiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
library.
The Turkish version was then translated into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez as Buch des Kabus in 1811, and a source of inspiration for Goethe's West-östlicher Diwan
West-östlicher Diwan
West-östlicher Diwan or West-östlicher Divan or West-Eastern Divan is a diwan, or collection of lyrical poems by the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The work was inspired by the Persian poet Hafez....
as he was in contact with von Diez.
The text was translated directly from Persian into English by Reuben Levy
Reuben Levy
Reuben Levy was Professor of Persian at the University of Cambridge, who wrote on Persian literature and Islamic history.-Life:...
with the title: A Mirror for Princes in 1951. French, Japanese, Russian, and Arabic language translations also followed.
Cultural references
This work is mentioned several times in Louis L'Amour's The Walking DrumThe Walking Drum
The Walking Drum is a novel by American author Louis L'Amour. Unlike most of his other novels, it is not set in the American West, but is a historical novel set in 12th century Europe and the Middle East.The main character of the story is Mathurin Kerbouchard...
as well as in Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
's "The Stone Woman".