In the same year (1837) as the Erbauliches und Beschauliches there appeared the Morgenländische Sagen und Geschichten (vol. iv.) in seven books or divisions. In general, the contents of these divisions may be described as versified extracts from Oriental history of prevailingly legendary or anecdotal character. Their arrangement is mainly chronological. Only the fourth, fifth and seventh books call for discussion as having Persian material. The most important source is the great historical work Rauḍat us-safā of Mīrχvānd, portions of which had been edited and translated before 1837 by scholars like de Sacy,[164] Wilken,[165] Vullers[166] and others.[167]
Other sources to be mentioned are d'Herbelot's Bibliothèque Orientale,[168] de Sacy's version of the Tārīχ-i-Yamīnī[169] and Hammer's Geschichte der schönen Redekünste Persiens.
The first poem of the fourth book goes back to the legendary period of Iran. Its hero is Guštāsp, the patron and protector of Zoroaster. Rückert calls him Kischtasp. He does not give the story directly according to Firdausī (tr. Mohl, iv. 224, 278-281) but makes his hero go to Tūrān, whence he returns at the head of a hostile army. At the boundary he is met, not by his brother Zarīr, but simply by messengers who offer him Iran's crown. This he accepts and thus becomes king and protector of the realm he was about to assail.[170]
Most of the other poems in this book deal with legends of the Sassanian dynasty. Thus "Schapurs Ball," p. 114 (Mém. pp. 282-285); "Die Wölfe und Schakale Nuschirwans," p. 115 (Mém. p. 381); "Die abgestellte Hungersnoth," p. 116 (Mém. pp. 345, 346); "Die Heerschau," p. 117 (Mém. p. 373). The two stories about Bahrām Čubīn, pp. 119-122, are also in Mém. p. 395 and pp. 396, 397 respectively.[171] "Der Mann mit einem Arme," p. 124, is in Mém. pp. 348, 349. In the last poem "Yesdegerd," p. 126, Rückert gives the story of the sad end of the last Sassanian apparently according to different accounts, and not simply according to Firdausī or Mīrχvānd.
The sixth book opens with the story of Muntasir, p. 198, (from d'Herb. vol. iii. pp. 694, 695) and then we enter the period of the Saffārid dynasty. Its founder Yaʻqūb is the subject of a poem, p. 207 (d'Herb. iv. 459). "Zu streng und zu milde" and "Schutz und Undank," both p. 210, tell of the fortunes of Prince Qābūs (Wilken, Sam. p. 181 and pp. 79-81, 91, 198-200, n. 47). "Die aufgehobene Belagerung," p. 211, brings us to the Būyids (d'Herb. ii. pp. 639, 640). The story of Saidah and Mahmūd, p. 212, is from Wilken's Buj. c. xii. pp. 87-90, but the order of the events is changed. Then we come to the history of the Ghaznavid dynasty, in connection with which the story of Alp Tagīn is told in "Lokman's Wort," p. 214, according to the account of Haidar in Wilk. Gasnevid. p. 139, n. 1, preceded by an anecdote told of Luqmān (d'Herb. ii. 488). "Die Schafschur," p. 215, gives a saying of Sabuktagīn from the Tārīχ-i-Yamīnī (on the authority of ʻUtbī, de Sacy, Notices et Extr. iv. 365). In the story of Mahmūd's famous expedition to Sōmanatha, p. 215, Rückert has combined the meagre account of Mīrχvānd with that of Firišta for the story of the Brahman's offer and with that of Haidar for the sultan's reply (Wilk. Gasnevid. pp. 216, 217, n. 109). "Mahmud's Winterfeldzug," p. 216, is also from Wilken's book (pp. 166-168, n. 38); in fact Dilχak's reply is a rhymed translation of the passage in the note referred to. From the same source came also the poem on the two Dabšalīms, p. 219 (Wilken, Gasnevid. pp. 220-225). The familiar anecdote of the vizier interpreting to Mahmūd the conversation of the two owls is told in Niḍāmī's Maχsan-ul-asrār (ed. Bland, pp. 48-50), where, however, Anūširvān is the sultan. The title reads: داستان انوشروان عدل با وزير وجغد.[172] "Abu Rihan" (i.e. Albīrūnī) is taken from d'Herb. I. 45 and iv. 697.
Then follow stories from the period of the Saljūks: "Des Sultan's Schlaf," p. 224 (Vullers, Gesch. der Seldsch. pp. 43, 44); "Nitham Elmulks Ehre," p. 228 (ibid. pp. 228-230); "Nitham Elmulks Fall," p. 229 (ib. pp. 123-125 and pp. 128-132); "Die unglückliche Stunde," p. 232 (ibid. pp. 153, 154). "Die unterthänigen Würfel," p. 227, is from the Haft Qulzum (Gram. u. Poet. der Perser, pp. 366, 367). The stories of Alp Arslan and Romanus, p. 225, and of Malakšāh's prayer, p. 228, are not given by Mīrχvānd, but occur in the works of Deguignes, Gibbon, Malcolm and d'Herbelot.[173] The story of the death of Sultan Muhammad (in 1159 A.D.), p. 232, is in Deguignes, ii. 260, 261.
Then we get stories from the period of the Mongol invasion. "Die prophezeite Weltzerstörung," p. 237, the legend of Jingis Chān's birth, is in the Tārīχ-i-Yamīnī (Notices et Extr. iv. pp. 408, 409). The material for the poems concerning Muẖammad Xvārazm Šāh, p. 237, and his brave son Jalāl ud-dīn, pp. 240, 241, is found in the work of Deguignes (op. cit. ii. p. 274 and pp. 280-283). Finally we are carried even to India and listen to the story of the unhappy queen Raziyah, p. 255, who was murdered at Delhi by her own generals in 1239 A.D.[174]
A few anecdotes about Persian poets are also given. Thus "Dichterkampf," p 233, gives the amusing story of the literary contest between Anvarī and Rašīd, surnamed Vaṭvaṭ "the swallow" (Hammer, Red. p. 121; David Price, Chronological Retrospect, London, 1821, ii. 391, 392), and on p. 243 we are told how Kamāl ud-dīn curses his native city Ispahān and how the curse was fulfilled. (Hammer, Red. p. 159.)