Revised translation of the Chahár maqála : ("Four discourses") of Nizámí-i-ʼArúdí of Samarqand, followed by an abridged translation of Mírzá Muhammad's notes to the Persian text / by Edward G. Browne.

  • Niẓāmī ʻArūz̤ī, active 1110-1161.
Date:
1921
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Revised translation of the Chahár maqála : ("Four discourses") of Nizámí-i-ʼArúdí of Samarqand, followed by an abridged translation of Mírzá Muhammad's notes to the Persian text / by Edward G. Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE ' | 'WO reasons have led me to publish this revised translation of the Chahdr Maqdla, or “Four Discourses,” of Nizami-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 appeared as a separate reprint, is exhausted, and is now hardly obtainable. The second 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 Mirza Muhammad of Qazwfn, whose admirable edition, accompanied by copious critical and historical notes in Persian, was published in this Series (xi, 1) in 1910; and partly « from the fact that the most ancient and correct MS. of the work at present discovered1, that preserved in the Library of ‘Ashir Efendi at Constantinople (No. 285), was not available when I made my original translation, while it has served as the basis for Mirza Muhammad’s text. Hence my old translation is not only practically unobtainable, but, apart 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 has been carefully revised throughout, and the proofs have all been read by Mirza Muhammad, who supplied many valuable criticisms, together with a good deal of new material in the notes. They have also been diligently read by Muhammad Iqbal, one of the Government of India Research Students at Cambridge, who has made many useful suggestions and saved me from numerous small errors. To these and to other friends who have helped me in a lesser degree I am deeply in¬ debted, but special thanks are due to Mr Ralph Shirley, editor