In Volume 3: Lexicography; Grammar; Prosody, and Poetics; Rhetoric, Riddles, and Chronograms; Ornate Prose; Proverbs; Tales

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¶ § 653. The Jāmiʿ al-ʿulūm of Fak̲h̲r al-Dīn al-Rāzī, who died 606/1209, has already been mentioned (pl. ii § 589). The eighteenth “science” is amt̲h̲āl (see Leyden i 16).

§ 654. S̲h̲ams al-Dīn M. b. Maḥūd al-Āmulī composed his Nafāʾis al-funūn partly in 735/1334–5 (see pl. ii § 593). Qism i, maqālah i, fann 12 is amt̲h̲āl (see Rieu ii 436a).

§ 655. Mīrak Muḥammad Naqs̲h̲bandī Tās̲h̲kandī.

Nawādir al-amt̲h̲āl¹ (beg. Durar i ḥamd i bī-s̲h̲umār), proverbial and figurative expressions (kināyāt u amt̲h̲āl), collected mainly from the works of poets, alphabetically arranged with examples and Turkish explanations and completed at S̲h̲īrāz² in Muḥarram 1020/March—April 1611:³ Salemann 78, Blochet iv 2136 (70 foll. a.h. 1020/1611, by Darwīs̲h̲ Ḥasan Guls̲h̲anī), Flügel i 90 (3) (foll. 109–96. a.h. 1067/1656–7, also by d.ḥ.g.), 345 (113 foll. The date 1038/1629, given by Flügel as the date of composition, is presumably that of transcription), Leyden i p. 103 no. 200 (without preface. A Warner ms., therefore 17th cent.), Berlin 172 (1), Ḥamīdīyah p. 136 no. 677, Upsala 76.

§ 656. M. ʿAlī Ḥabal-rūdī⁴ went to Ḥaidarābād in 1054/1644 in the reign of Sulṭān ʿAbd Allāh Quṭb-S̲h̲āh and at one of the assemblies of M. al-K̲h̲ātūn, the Sulṭān’s wazīr [i.e. M. b. K̲h̲ātūn al-ʿĀmilī: cf. pl. i § 84, n. 83], he heard the opinion ¶ expressed that it would be desirable for someone to collect the proverbs of the Persians in the same way as those of the Turks and the Arabs had already been collected. He thereupon decided to undertake the task and compiled his Jāmiʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl. The date given above is not open to doubt, since it is stated to correspond chronogrammatically to the Qurʾānic verse Inna ’l-muttaqīna fī maqāmⁱⁿ amīn. It is, therefore, surprising that in the Majmaʿ al-amt̲h̲āl, a work which appears to contain the proverbs of the Jāmiʿ al-tamt̲h̲il with a virtually identical preface, but without the muqaddamah and the illustrative anecdotes, etc., the above incident is placed in the year 1049/1639–40.

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Majamʿ al-amt̲h̲āl (beginning apparently in most mss. with the same words as the Jāmiʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl, but in Ivanow-Curzon 664 abruptly a. b. gūs̲h̲ah-nis̲h̲īn i diyār i bī-wujūdī M. ʿAlī Hlbah [sic, and with ḥāʾ i hawwaz] Rūdī), an alphabetically arrayed list of proverbs without illustrative matter, preceded by a preface similar to that of the Jāmīʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl, containing (at any rate in most mss.⁵) a different date, 1049/1639–40, and a mention of Golconda in place of Ḥaidarābād: Lindesiana p. 113 no. 131 b (?) (circ. a.d. 1730), Blochet iii 1777 (2) (mid 18th cent.), Ivanow Curzon 664 (foll. 161–77. Title given as Majmaʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl. Probably a.h. 1207/1794), Berlin 299 (38 foll. a.h. 1264/1848), Bānkīpūr ix 901 (51 foll. 19th cent.), Āṣafīyah ii p. 1280 no. 112.

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Jāmiʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl (beg. Sp. i bī-ḥ. u st. ī bī-ʿadd Bī-mit̲h̲lī rā sazad kih ba-īmā-yi … a. b. (and then according to the Bombay edition) īn ḥaqīr i … munzawī ī k̲h̲āk i bī-wujūdī Muḥammad i Jblah Rūdī kih dast dar ḥabl al-matīn i ʿurwat al-wut̲h̲qā zadah), a collection of Persian proverbs and some figurative expressions compiled in (and after ?) 1054/1644 from the works of Sanāʾī, Firdausī, Niẓāmī, Saʿdī, Salmān, K̲h̲wājū, Ḥāfiẓ, Kamāl i Iṣfahānī and others (see the k̲h̲ātimah), accompanied by anecdotes and other illustrative matter and divided into twenty-eight⁶ bābs (one for each letter of the alphabet), preceded by a muqaddamah (pp. 5–34 in the Bombay, edition) and followed by a k̲h̲ātimah (pp. 282–3 in that edition): D̲h̲arīʿah v p. 46, Rieu ii 773b (269 foll. 17th cent.), 774a (Lacks preface. 161 foll. 17th cent.), Bānkīpūr ix 899 (184 foll. 18th cent.), 900 (255 foll. a.h. 1241/1825–6), Edinburgh 116 ( a.h. 1226/1811), Berlin 300 ( a.h. 1241/1826), 301 ( a.h. 1245/1830), Ethé 2209 (n.d.), Rehatsek p. 223 no. 22.

Editions: Ṭihrān 1278/1861–2 (see Rieu ii 774a); 1285/1868° (312 pp.); [Tihrān] 1302/1884–5° (300 pp.); Tihrān 1372/1953‡ (436 pp. Islāmīyah Pr.); Bombay, Muẓaffarī Pr. 1339/1920* (283 pp.),

Abridgment: Intik̲h̲āb i J. al-t.: Bodleian 1241 (55).

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¶ ʿAjāʾib al-amt̲h̲āl (beg. G̲h̲āzah-pārāʾī i ruk̲h̲sārah i s̲h̲āhid i kalām ba-ḥamd i K̲h̲āliqī-st), apparently identical with the Jāmiʿ al-tamt̲h̲īl apart from the different exordium: Būhār 275 (218 foll. 19th cent.), Rāmpūr (Nad̲h̲īr Aḥmad 315. N.d.).

§ 657. Levinus Warner. a pupil of Jacobus Golius (Professor of Arabic at Leyden 1624–67), went to Istanbul in 1644 to study Oriental languages and in 1655 on the death of the “Ordinum Generalium Minister Constantinopolitanus” was appointed his successor. He accumulated there a fine collection of oriental mss., more than 700 in number, which he bequeathed to the University of Leyden and which had come into its possession by the beginning of 1669.

[Catalogus codicum Orientalium Bibliothecae Academiae Lugduno Batavae vol. i, pp. xv-xvi; M. Th. Houtsma Uit de Oostersche correspondentie van Th. Erpenius, J. Golius en Lev. Warner (see pl. i § 208, end).]

Mat̲h̲alhā-yi zabān i Fārsī [these words in the Arabic character]. Proverbiorum et sententiarum Persicarum centuria. Collecta, & versione notisque adornata a Levino Warnero. Leyden 1644°* (44 pp.).

§ 658. M. Ibrāhīm b. Zain al-ʿĀbidīn Naṣīrī wrote a history of S̲h̲āh Sulṭān-Ḥusain ( a.h. 1105–35/1694–1722) entitled Dastūr i s̲h̲ahryārān (pl. i § 399).

Tuḥfah i Sulṭānī (beg. H. i bī-mit̲h̲āl u sp. i bī-humāl Mālik al-Mulk i D̲h̲ū ’l-Jalāl rā sazā-st), a collection of Turkish and Persian proverbs (the Turkish preceding the Persian under each letter) composed for S̲h̲āh Sulṭān-Ḥusain: Bānkīpūr ix 893 (89 foll, 19th cent.).

§ 659. S. Ḥusain S̲h̲āh “Ḥaqīqat” died at Madrās not earlier than 1225/1810 (see pl. iii § 206).

K̲h̲azīnat al-amt̲h̲āl (beg. al-H. l. [’l.] tanazzaha [ʿan] simāt al-naqṣ), a collection of 7178 Arabic, Persian and Urdu proverbs with an Urdu preface and Persian translation and notes to the Arabic part, composed [completed ?] in 1215/1800–1 (see Raḥmān ʿAlī p. 49): Edinburgh New College p. 10 no. 54.

Editions: Place ? 1270/1853–4 (Āṣafīyah ii p. 1452); 1289/1872 (N. K., therefore either Lucknow or Cawnpore. Āṣafīyah iii p. 616); Cawnpore 1892° (N.K. 256 pp.).

§ 660. Muʿīn al-Islām M. Ḥusain “Najāt” b. ʿAbd al-G̲h̲affār Tabrīzī completed in 1310/1892–3 his Kilīd i bihis̲h̲t, a versification of the story of Yūd̲h̲āsaf [Būd̲h̲āsaf] and Bilauhar (see Dānis̲h̲mandān i Ād̲h̲arbāyjān p. 372.

Quṭūf al-adab fī amthāl al-ʿArab: Tabrīz 1304/1886–7 (Mus̲h̲ār i 1226).

¶ § 661. Lieut.-Colonel Douglas Craven Phillott (cf. pl. ii §§ 663 (c), 672, 697).

Common saws and proverbs collected chiefly from dervishes, in southern Persia (but on the wrapper merely: Persian saws and proverbs): Calcutta 1906‡ (Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. i, no. 15, pp. 801–887).

§ 662. ʿAlī-qulī Dihk̲h̲wāraqānī was a well-known preacher (wāʿiẓ) in Ād̲h̲ar­bāyjān (Dānis̲h̲mandān i Ād̲h̲arbāyjān p. 281).

Amt̲h̲āl (i Turkī u Pārsī); lith. Tabrīz 1333/1914–15 (Mus̲h̲ār i 147).

§ 663. ʿAlī Akhar “Dih-k̲h̲udā” has been mentioned as the founder of the Lughat-nāmah (pl. iii § 83).

Amt̲h̲āl u ḥikam, Persian sayings and proverbs, alphabetically arranged with index of sources: Tihrān a.h.s. 1310/1921–2‡ (4 vols).

§ 664. Amīr-qulī Amīn b. Ibrāhim K̲h̲ān.

Hazār u yak suk̲h̲an dar amt̲h̲āl u naṣāyiḥ u ḥikam, alphabetically arranged proverbs: Berlin 1339–42/1920–4‡ (Kāvayānī Pr. 76 pp.). [This is apparently the work described above, pl. iii § 90 (10), as being 1001 modern Persian idioms. v.s.]

§ 665. Dr. Ḥusain Masrūr Suk̲h̲an-yār Iṣfahānī.

Amt̲h̲āl i sāʾīr: printed Tihrān (Mus̲h̲ār i 147).

§ 666. ʿAbbās Muḥtas̲h̲am Nūrī.

Amt̲h̲āl i Ingilīsī ba-Fārsī: Tihrān a.h.s. 1323/1944–5 (99 pp. Mus̲h̲ār i 147).

§ 667. L.P. Elwell-Sutton, Professor of Persian in the University of Edinburgh [until 1982, died in 1984. v.s.]

Persian proverbs [in English translation with elucidations in most cases, a small collection derived partly from some printed books specified in the author’s bibliography (p. 96) and partly from conversation with Persians]. London 1954‡ (103 pp. Wisdom of the East series).

§ 668. Dr. M. Taqī Muqtadirī.

Ḍarb al-mat̲h̲al-hā-yi Fārsī dar Afg̲h̲ānistān (in Farhang i Īrān-zamīn vii (1338) 1–3 pp. 5–230).

§ 669. Amīr-qulī Amīnī, mudīr i rūz-nāmah i Iṣfahān.

Farhang i ʿawāmm yā tafsīr i amt̲h̲āl u iṣṭilāḥāt i Pārsī: [Tihrān ? circ. 1960 ? ‡] (Fulk-lur i Īrān. Muʾassasah i Maṭbūʿātī i ʿAlī Akbar ʿIlmi).

¶ § 670. Appendix

(1)

Amt̲h̲āl ī Fārsī, an anonymous collection: Barēlī (“Bareilly”) 1868* (Society Press. 125 pp.); 1870 (same press. 125 pp.).

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Amt̲h̲āl i Fārsī, collected by Aḥmad Ḥusain K̲h̲ān “Mad̲h̲āq”: Lucknow [1924*] (Nūr al-Maṭābīʿ. 20 pp.).

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Amthilah i Fārsīyah, “a collection of Persian proverbs written for me by my Moonshi. J. J. Fahie [the donor], Tehran 1st august 1887”; Bodleian iii 2717 (75 foll.).

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Intik̲h̲āb i nādirah, witty or historic sayings with Urdu commentary explaining the circumstances, by Muns̲h̲ī Dēbī Prasād: Lucknow 1917* (N.K. 120 pp.).

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Jāmiʿ al-amt̲h̲āl (beg. a. b. c̲h̲unīn gūyad aqall al-ʿibād), an alphabetically arranged collection by Hādī b. M. Mahdī al-Ḥusainī, based largely on an earlier collection entitled Muntak̲h̲ab al-amt̲h̲āl: Rieu ii 811 a (foll. 242–64. 18th cent.).

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Kitāb i mat̲h̲alīyāt, an anonymous collection arranged alphabetically in 28 chapters: Rehatsek p. 57 no. 39.

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Nawādir al-amt̲h̲āl (beg. Baʿd az ḥ. i Ṣāniʿī kih ṣāniʿ i qudratas̲h̲ muḥtāj i iẓhār … nīst), a small alphabetically arranged collection by ʿAlī jān “Qais”: Browse Pers. Cat. 325 (14 foll. Quite modern).

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Nikāt al-ʿārifīn (beg. ʿAndalīb i guls̲h̲an), Urdu proverbs with Persian preface and Persian explanations by Ṣādiq: Bodleian iii 2715 (115 foll. 18th cent.), 2716 (circ. a.d. 1800), Bodleian ii 2336 ( a.d. 1822).

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Qurrat al-ʿain fī ḍarb al-amt̲h̲āl (beg. C̲h̲ūn mauhibat u anwār ī ʿāṭifah): Cairo p. 524 (leaves disarranged [including the first apparently].)

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Qurrat al-ʿuyūn (dar amt̲h̲āl i Qurʾānīyah u muḥāwarāt u ḥikāyāt. Beg.: a. b…. chūn ba-dīdah i taḥqīq nigarand jamīʿ i amt̲h̲āl u aqwāl i ʿArab u ʿAjam rā az āyāt i … Qurʾān … tuwān paidā u maʾk̲h̲ad̲h̲ kard), in four qisms and some faṣls: Majlis 635 (1).

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Risālah i amt̲h̲āl (beg. Allāhumma yak-yak,⁷ Awwal k̲h̲wīs̲h̲ baʿdah darwīs̲h̲, Āb nā-dīdah mūzah kas̲h̲īdah), an anonymous collection, “alphabetically” arranged in 28 bābs: Bānkīpūr xvii 1550 (foll. 120–30).

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Tuḥfat al-amt̲h̲āl, by Niẓām al-ʿulamāʾ S. Rafīʿ al-Dīn b. ʿAlī Aṣg̲h̲ar Ṭabāṭabāʾī Tabrīzī: Istanbul 1311/1893–4 (88 pp. Mus̲h̲ār i 364).

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Tuḥfat al-maqāl fī ’l-iṣṭilāḥāt wa ’l-amt̲h̲āl, by ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ Guls̲h̲a­nābādī (for whom see pl. iii § 792 infra) on famous Arabic, Persian, English and Hindi Proverbs: Bombay 1872 (208 pp. Mus̲h̲ār i 371).

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