{xxiii} Nasrullah’s Preface

Thus says Nasrullah Muhammad, son of Abdul-Hamid Abu’l-Ma‘ali1

When, thanks to the emperor’s good fortune, my master’s house became the resort of learned men, and he granted the requests of every one of them more cheerfully than one could imagine (this being far too well known to need any elaboration), consequently all attained contentment with him and entered into friendship with him. A group of well-known persons, each of whom possessed abundant erudition and renown, were habitués of that house. . . . I became accustomed to sitting and conversing with them, and I was so greatly inclined to acquire skills that would be of use in my job that my fondest wish was to meet with them and spend an hour in their company in conversation, which I reckoned as the greatest felicity. These words may be attributed to boasting and swagger, but since fairness necessitates that one remove the veil of envy from one’s own beauty, and when one reflects on the miracles of rhetoric that this book contains, it will be recognized that unless one is high-minded in acquisition and the greatest pains are taken in learning, one will not attain that level of speech by which humankind is distinguished from other animals. It being the custom of destiny always to take back what it gives, when it dispersed that group, I saw that I could be guided only by reading books, and it is proverbial that the best narrator is a book. Inasmuch as it has been said that being serious all year long wearies people, occasionally there was levity, and I turned my attention to histories and stories. During that time the jurist Ali Ibrahim Isma‘il, one of His Majesty’s outstanding jurists who is exceptionally virtuous and wise, brought a copy of Kalila and Dimna. Although there were already several other copies among the books, it was taken as a good omen and I thanked him as a good friend. In short, I gained an intimacy with that copy, and as its good features {xxiv} became better known with reflection and contemplation, I had an even greater desire to peruse it, for after books of law no more beneficial book has ever been made in the history of the world. Its chapters are based on wisdom and advice, and it is couched in a jocular tone so that the elite might be inclined to recognize experiences and the common folk might also read it because of its light tone and its sage advice might gradually take root in their minds.

Truly it is a mine of wisdom and perspicacity and a storehouse of experience and practical knowledge. By listening to it kings can learn policy for ruling a realm and ordinary people can read it and benefit from it to preserve their possessions. They put the following to one of the Brahmans of India: “They say that next to India are mountains on which grow medicinal plants that can bring the dead back to life. How can one obtain them?” He replied, “ ‘You learned one thing and missed many’ is something the ancients said. By ‘the mountains’ they meant learned men, and by ‘the medicinal plants’ they meant their words. By ‘the dead’ are intended the ignorant, who come to life by hearing those words and gain eternal life through knowledge. There is a collection of those words called Kalila and Dimna, and it is in the treasuries of the kings of India. If you can get hold of it you will attain your goal.”

The good features of this book are endless, and what greater distinction could it have than that it passed from nation to nation and community to community without being rejected? When the rule came to Chosroës Anoshirvan,2 whose renown for justice and clemency is inscribed on the pages of time, and whose bravery and wise policy are writ large in histories to such an extent that the rulers of Islam are likened to him in beneficence—and what greater luck could he have had than that the Prophet himself said, “I was born during the time of the Just King”?—he ordered the book brought by subterfuge from India to Persia and translated into the Pahlavi language. He based affairs in his kingdom on it and made its advice and counsel a model for benefits of religion and this world and an exemplar for policy toward the elite and the common folk. He counted it as a precious article in his treasury, and so it remained until the end of the days of Yazdgird Shahryar, the last of the kings of Persia.3

{xxv} When Iraq and Persia were conquered by the armies of Islam and the dawn of the nation of the truth broke over those territories, mention of this book reached the hearing of the caliphs, and they were much intrigued by it. During the reign of the Commander of the Faithful Abu-Ja‘far Mansur son of Muhammad son of Ali son of Abdullah son of Abbas, the second caliph of the house of the uncle of the Prophet,4 Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ translated it from the Pahlavi language into Arabic, and it was well received by him and was taken as a guide by the grandees of the nation. . . .

In sum, the gist of this is that such a monarch was desirous of this book, and when the rule of Khurasan came to Abu’l-Hasan Nasr son of Ahmad the Samanid,5 he ordered the poet Rudaki to versify it because people were more inclined to read poetry. That monarch was very expansionist, and during his reign Kirman, Gurgan, Tabaristan, and as far as Rayy and Isfahan were added to the kingdom of the Samanids, and he enjoyed ruling for thirty years. If even a bit of his history were to be given it would take too long. He venerated this book and read it with care.

Dabshalīm was the raja of India at whose order the collection was made, and Bidpai was the Brahman who composed the original.6 His perfect wisdom can be judged by this book . . . since its excellence will not be hidden from anyone who has an iota of wisdom, while anyone who does not possess intelligence will be excused by people of insight. “How can the blind see the light of Moses? How can the deaf hear Jesus’ words?”

If volumes were filled with the good features of this book it would still not be given its due, but surely we have wearied our readers beyond all bounds. From the point at which Anoshirvan was mentioned to here is all extraneous and has nothing to do with the flow of the book, but we wanted it to be known that wisdom has always been precious, especially in the view of kings and grandees, and in truth if any effort is made in that direction or any expense borne, it will not be wasted because knowledge of the code of good policy is a firm basis for ruling the world. Permanence of one’s name throughout the ages is a precious commodity and cheap at whatever price it is purchased.

{xxvi} After Ibn al-Muqaffa‘’s translation and Rudaki’s poetry this book was retranslated, and everyone who stepped onto the field of expression acquitted himself according to his ability, but it appears that their goal was to tell stories, not to make wisdom and advice understandable, for they wrote in quite an abridged manner and limited themselves to the fables.

In short, now that people’s desire to read Arabic books has waned and they have become deprived of the wisdom and counsel contained therein—indeed they are in danger of becoming lost altogether—it occurred to me that it should be translated and expanded and have Koranic verses, sayings of the Prophet, lines of poetry, and proverbs added to give new life to this book, which is a condensation of several thousand years of wisdom, so that people would not be deprived of its benefits.

Thus was it begun. The text was embellished by adding proverbs, lines of poetry, explanation of obscurities, and advice, and the translation and introduction were done. The one chapter that is limited to a mention of Burzoë the Physician and attributed to Buzurjmihr was done as succinctly as possible because it is based on a tale. A meaning that is devoid of major sagacity and basic wisdom gains nothing in beauty if somebody dresses it in borrowed clothing, and any time one bypasses wise critics and masterly stylists and pays no attention to them one will of course be exposed to disgrace. The rhetorically expanded version and subtle conversation begin with the story of the lion and the ox, which is the beginning of the book proper, and there the gate to the garden of knowledge and wisdom is opened to readers of this book.

When some of the work had been done, a mention of it reached the hearing of His Majesty, and several quires were honored to be perused by him. Since His Majesty is perfectly conversant with and discriminating of writing styles he approved of it, deigned to praise it, and issued a generous order that it should be continued in that vein and a preface be added in his name. I was thus encouraged and honored, and with great trepidation I plunged into that service since servants have no choice but to obey orders. Otherwise it is certain that the first thoughts in the regal mind of the monarch of the world are exemplars of the prime intellect and a route to the holy spirit, and neither does he need reflection on the experiences recorded in this book nor can perusal of these expressions add anything to the pearls of his regal wisdom. . . .

{xxvii} With this command he honored me and my progeny and assured himself of the reward for his regal times. If the kings of the past . . . had such success and held the words of the wise dear so that remembrance of them would last through the ages, today the world obeys the lord of the world, the just, most magnificent sultan of humankind, the reins of rule have been turned over to his justice, mercy, awesomeness, and regal policy, and the superiority of this king of kings over the kings of the age and monarchs of the past is too obvious to need elaboration. “In a hundred thousand generations the plodding celestial sphere does not bring a cavalier like him onto the field of time.” May his name and the renown of his felicitous reign, which is a field day of excellence and superiority, last forever and perpetually across the expanse of time. May God make the ultimate ambition of the kings of the world only the beginning of the fortune and felicity of this monarch, and may he grant him enjoyment of the season of youth and the fruits of kingship.

1. Much irrelevant material in Nasrullah’s excessively long-winded introduction has been deleted in translation.

2. Chosroës I Anoshirvan “the Just” reigned over the Sassanian Empire AD 531–579.

3. Yazdgird III, r. 632–651.

4. The second Abbasid caliph, Abdullah son of Muhammad al-Manṣūr, r. 745–775.

5. The Samanid Nasr son of Ahmad ruled from Bukhara 864–892.

6. Dabshalīm and Bīd(a)bā, which became Bidpai in Persian, are names introduced by Ibn al-Muqaffa‘. In Nasrullah’s Persian translation, neither is named, and they are called simply “the Raja of India” and “the Brahman.”