Abū Ṭāhir Ṭarsūsī, Abū Ṭāhir [Muḥammad] b. Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Mūsā Ṭarsūsī was a story-teller and writer of the 6th/12th century. Nothing is known about his life. His nisba, Ṭarsūsī or Ṭarṭūsī, which varies in the different copies of his works (Abū Ṭāhir Ṭarsūsī, xxvi), implies that he was either from Ṭarsūs in Turkey or from Ṭarṭūs in Syria. Given that he wrote in Persian, and given his command of this language, as well the content of and themes in his writings like the Dārāb-nāmah and the Qahramān-nāmah, which are mainly about the historical or legendary characters of ancient Iran,…