At a later period he appears in Medīna, as a military leader of great ability and influence. He is now surrounded, not only by the loyal friends who have shared his persecutions, and accompanied him in his flight, but also by a large class who have been forced to adhere to his cause, and whose sincerity is so questionable that they are openly called “hypocrites.”
The style of the Sūrahs which were given amidst these surroundings, and during the later years of the author’s life, varies greatly from that of the earlier chapters. We find here incidents which are scarcely embellished, and which are often expressed in the most prosaic language. Instead of the impassioned appeal of an orator, we have the more authoritative language of an acknowledged chief, giving his people whatever instruction they may require. He still follows, however, the rhythmical style of expression, which has so long been characteristic of the Arabians. The Arabs of the desert still employ it to a great extent in their formal orations, while the peculiar style of the Korān remains their standard of literary excellence.
DIVISION IV.
The Period Succeeding the Mohammedan
Conquest.
CHAPTER IX.
THE ANWĀR-I-SUHALI.
HISTORY OF THE WORK—PREFACE—THE BEES AND THEIR HABITS—THE TWO PIGEONS—THE BLIND MAN AND HIS WHIP—AMICABLE INSTRUCTION—THE PIGEONS AND THE RAT—THE ANTELOPE AND THE CROW—THE ELEPHANT AND THE JACKAL—GEMS FROM THE HITOPADEŚA.
There were two collections of early fables in Sanskṛit literature, called the Panćatantra and the Hitopadeśa, and during the reign of the Sassanian kings a quaint old book containing these stories was brought to the Persian court and translated into the Pahlavī tongue. This was a notable event in the history of Āryan literature, and since that time[[225]] this rare collection of simple stories has passed through more mutations than has the Roman Empire; it is now extant, under various names, in more than twenty languages, the Persian version being known as the Anwār-i-Suhali, or “The Lights of Canopus.”[[226]] It is recorded that King Nūshirvan commissioned an officer of state to procure a translation of this work, and, being obtained after years of difficulty, it was deposited in the cabinet of the king’s most precious treasures, and was regarded as a model of wisdom and didactic philosophy. But at the time of the Arabian conquest, this work, with many others, was destroyed by the vandals of the desert. More than a hundred years later the book was discovered and translated into Arabic by Almokaffa,[[227]] it then passed through the hands of several Arabic poets, and was afterward retranslated into Persian, first into verse, by Rudāki in the tenth century, and into prose in the twelfth century by Nasrāllah. As early as the eleventh century the Arabic work of Almokaffa was translated into Greek by Simeon, and then passed into the Italian. Again the Arabic text was translated into Hebrew by Rabbi Joel, and this Hebrew version became the principal source of the European books of fable. Before the end of the fifteenth century, John of Capua had published a Latin version, and a more elegant Persian rendering was made in the beginning of the fifteenth century by Husain Va’iz. A Turkish translation had been made early in the tenth century, but there was no Hindūstānī version until much later. The number of translations indicated the extreme popularity of the work in Europe, and in the sixteenth century it was read in German, Italian, Spanish and French. The English has not so many versions, although both Sir William Jones and Prof. Max Müller have translated the Hitapodeśa, and Prof. Eastwick has given us a faithful reproduction of Husain Va’iz’s work, the Anwār-i-Suhali.
The Persian version is the book which candidates for the position of interpreter are required to read after the Gūlistān, as the great number of words and the variety of its style make it the best book in the language to be studied by one who wishes to make rapid progress in Persian. In the present century Major Stewart, professor of Persian at the East India College at Haileyburg, published a translation of the seventh book of this work, and dedicated it to the civil and military employés of the East India Company. The repetition of metaphor and highly florid style of composition is often offensive to the English reader, but these very characteristics form its greatest attraction in the eye of Persian litterateurs, and many stories are delightful to them which are wearisome or repulsive to the simpler taste of the western student. In this fanciful work kings are represented as sitting on thrones as stable as the firmament, while they touch the stars with their foreheads, and have all other kings to serve them. Royalty is always just, wise, valiant and most beneficent—ministers are invariably gifted with intellects which are an ornament to the world, and they can solve all problems with a single thought. Mountains rival the planets in their height, and all gardens are fair as dreams of paradise, while the heroes conquer animals so furious that even their appearance frightens the constellations out of the heavens. These absurdities are so prominent that they tempt the student to turn away in disgust, but those who patiently peruse the book will discover many beautiful thoughts, many striking and practical ideas, which are forcibly and often beautifully expressed.
The preface is similar to that of many other Persian works, being composed very largely of a eulogy upon Mohammed, and especially upon the royal dignitary to whom the work is dedicated.
A brief extract from this literary curiosity will give the reader an example of the fulsome praise which Persian authors thought best to bestow upon the kings or court officials who encouraged their pursuits.
“And he is the great Amīr, the place where all excellences and high qualities centre, through the sublimity of his spirit, ... who, without compliment, is the star Canopus shining from the right hand of Yaman, and a sun diffusing radiance, from the dawning place of affection and fidelity.