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(p.; turc: peri) être surnaturel des contes et légendes, de même que de toute une catégorie de croyances populaires. 1. Chez les Turcs. Le mot est dérivé du persan par «aile»; en effet, il est imaginé, parfois, comme un être ailé. La tradition des Turcs le considère comme un esprit bienfaiteur. Toutefois, chez les Kazaks, il est parfois représenté comme un mauvais génie. Dans la tradition anatolienne, on le conçoit comme un être appartenant aux deux sexes; on emploie le terme composé Peri- Kizi, «Fille-Peri», quand il s’agit de peris du sexe féminin. Dans certains contes et légendes…

, ou Ẓahīr al-dīn Abū l-Faḍl Ṭāhir b. Muḥammad al-Fāryābī, poète persan du VIe/XIIe s., né à Fāryāb, l’actuelle Dawlatābād, près de Balk̲h̲, vers 550/1156 (m. 598/1201). Poète de cour, il eut des patrons dans diverses régions de Perse; le premier connu de nous fut ʿAḍud al-dīn Ṭug̲h̲āns̲h̲āh, un souverain local de Nīs̲h̲āpūr. En 582/1186, il vint à Iṣfahān et, trois plus tard, il partit pour le Māzandarān où il s’attacha à l’ ispahbād Ḥusām al-dīn Ardas̲h̲īr b. Ḥasan des Bāwandides [ q.v.]. Plus tard, il s’installa à cour des Eldigüzides ou Ildeñizides [ q.v.], écrivant le panégyrique de…

, l’Iran, nom actuel de l’ancienne Perse. I. — Géographie. 1. — Caractères géologiques. Le tracé des principaux traits topographiques de l’Iran, représentés par le Kūhhā-yi Alburz et la chaîne du Zagros, va respectivement d’Ouest en Est et de Nord-ouest en Sud-est; l’Alburz continue les structures alpines européennes, alors que la chaîne du Zagros rejoint, en passant par Chypre, les Alpes dinariques (Fisher, 1956). La structure du pourtour montagneux du pays a fortement subi les effets des mouvements tectoniq…

(p., t. peri , borrowed into English as peri, French péri ), a supernatural being of stories and legends, and likewise forming a whole category of popular beliefs. The word stems from Pers. par “wing”; and the being is sometimes pictured as being winged. Turkish tradition considers it as a beneficent spirit. However, amongst the Kazaks it is sometimes represented as an evil genie. In the Anatolian tradition, it is conceived as a being belonging to both sexes, and the compound form peri kizi “girl peri” is used for peris of the female sex. It was believed …

i.—Geography The geological background: The alignments of Iran’s principal topographie features, represented by the Kūhhā-yi Alburz and the Zagros Chain, are west to east and north-west to south-east, respectively. In broad context, the Alburz is a continuation of the European Alpine structures, while the Zagros chain has been linked through Cyprus with the Dinaric Alps (Fisher, 1956). The structure of the mountain rim of the country has been influenced strongly by tectonic movements which have n…

author of a famous Mirror for Princes, best known as the Qābus-nāma, although other, more general titles such as Naṣiḥat-nāma, or Pand-nāma, also occur in the sources. A version of this article is available in print Volume XVI, Fascicle 2, pp. 180-182 KAYKĀVUS (also Kaykāʾus) b. ESKANDAR b. Qābus b. Vošmgir, Amir ʿOnṣor-al-Maʿāli, the author of a famous Mirror for Princes, best known as the Qābus-nāma, although other, more general titles such as Naṣiḥat-nāma, or Pand-nāma, also occur in the sources. He was born about 412/1021 as a prince of the Ziarid dynasty, which a …

a short maṯnavi by Sanāʾi of Ghazna (d. 1131), containing panegyric as well as satirical verses addressed to, or describing, people from various layers of Ghaznavid society. A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 6, pp. 585 KĀR-NĀMA-YE BALḴ, a short maṯnavi by Sanāʾi of Ghazna (d. 1131), containing panegyric as well as satirical verses addressed to, or describing, people from various layers of Ghaznavid society. As in his other maṯnavis, Sanāʾi uses the meter ḵafif-e mosaddas-e maḥḏuf in the Kār-nāma. The presence of a strong element of satire in the…

(d. ca. 1130), Persian poet of the later Ghaznavid era, celebrated particularly for his homiletic poetry and his great influence on the development of mystical literature in general. SANĀʾI, Majdud b. Ādam Ḡaznavi, Persian poet, celebrated especially on account of his homiletic poetry and his great influence on the development of mystical literature (born and died in Ghazna, ca. 1087/1130, for further details see below). He normally used 'Sanāʾi' as a pen name in his poems, but very occasionally he also used his first name…

Persian writer on ethics and poet of the Safavid period (b. Karbalā, ca. 1592; d. Ray, ca. 1653). A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 6, pp. 656-657 KĀŠEF ŠIRĀZI, MIR MOḤAMMAD-ŠARIF B. ŠAMS-AL-DIN MOḤAMMAD, Persian writer on ethics and poet of the Safavid period (b. Karbalā, ca. 1001/1592; d. Ray, ca. 1063/1653). Variants of his pen name are Kāšef, Kāšef-e Komeyt and Šarifā Kāšef. His father, Šamsā of Shiraz, was an expert in account keeping. While he was still at a tender age, Kāšef’s family returned to Persia, settling down in Isfahan, where…

the most important Persian lyric, adopted also by literatures influenced by the classical Persian tradition, in particular Turkish and Urdu poetry. A version of this article is available in print Volume X, Fascicle 4, pp. 354-358 ḠAZAL, the most important Persian lyric, adopted also by literatures influenced by the classical Persian tradition, in particular Turkish and Urdu poetry. ḠAZAL i. HISTORY The word ḡazal is of Arabic origin. The basic meaning of its root is “spinning.” At a very early stage, the figurative sense of “having amorous talks with women,…

(b. The Hague, 1596; d. Leiden, 1667), Dutch orientalist who widened the scope of Persian studies, as they had been pursued by Dutch Arabists since the end of the 16th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 1, pp. 96 GOLIUS, JACOBUS (latinized form of the Dutch name Jacob Gool), Dutch orientalist (b. The Hague, 1596; d. Leiden, 28 September 1667), who descended from a family of patricians in the city of Leiden. From 1612 onwards he read medicine, mathematics, and astronomy at Leiden University. His inter…

(Hendu) denotes in Persian an inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent as well as a follower of Hinduism. The stereotype of the Hindu developed into an element of lyrical imagery which had little to do with reality. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 3, pp. 311-312 HINDU (Hendu), denotes in Persian an inhabitant of the Indian Subcontinent as well as a follower of Hinduism. During almost three millennia, the eastern Iranians have lived in close contact with the Indians. Their mutual experiences left traces in histor…

a Persian didactical maṯnawi by the twelfth-century poet Ḥakim Majdud b. Ādam Sanāʾi. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 4, pp. 441-442 ḤADIQAT AL-ḤAQIQA WA ŠARIʿAT AL-ṬARIQA a Persian didactical maṯnawi by Ḥakim Majdud b. Ādam Sanāʾi. The poem, written in the meter ḵafif-e mosaddas-e maḵbun-e maḥḏuf, was dedicated to the Ghaznavid sultan Bahrāmšāh (q.v.) shortly before the death of the poet, which probably occurred in 525/1131. Apparently, Sanāʾi did not complete a single final text. In a prose introduction, handed down in many copies of the Ḥadiqa, a c…

(1774-1856), prolific Austrian orientalist, among whose many works is the first ever complete translation of the Divān of Ḥāfeẓ into a Western language. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 6, pp. 644-646 HAMMER-PURGSTALL, JOSEPH FREIHERR von, prolific Austrian Orientalist, among whose many works is the first ever complete translation of the Divān of Ḥāfeẓ into a western language (b. Graz, Austria, 9 June 1774, d. Vienna, 23 November 1856). When in 1791 his father Josef Hammer, a steward of crown domains and subsequently…

(also spelled Hocéne-Azad; “Ḥasan” in Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, p. 207, is a misprint), physician, anthologist, and translator (b. Tehran, ca. 1854; d. Paris, 1936). ĀZĀD TABRIZI, MIRZĀ ḤOSAYN (also spelled Hocéne-Azad; “Ḥasan” in Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, p. 207, is a misprint), physician, anthologist, and translator (b. Tehran, ca. 1854; d. Paris, 1936). His father, Mirzā Yusof Khan Mostašār-al-Dawla (d. 1895), who served as a Persian diplomat in Saint Petersburg, Tbilisi and Paris, sympathized with the political ideas of Mirzā…

The making of jokes. In the present article the focus will be on description and classification of the types of humor that can be found in Persian literary sources, mainly belonging to the classical period. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 6, pp. 562-566 HUMOR. To make jokes and enjoy them is a universal human characteristic manifesting itself in all cultures and in many different forms. Taking into account both its psychological and its social aspects, humor has been described as “… the relief felt at the mo…

and its synonym hejā, two of the many terms which denote types of humorous writing or light verse in Persian. A version of this article is available in print Volume XI, Fascicle 6, pp. 568-570 HAJW and its synonym hejā are two of the many terms which denote types of humorous writing or light verse in Persian (cf. the list of more than two hundred items drawn up by Ḥalabi, pp. 97-180, and the article HUMOR). The wide range of meaning attached to the word “satire,” which in English is the nearest equivalent of hajw, requires a further specification to assign hajw its proper place within th…

AWḤAD-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD (or ʿALĪ), poet at the court of the Saljuqs in the 12th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 2, pp. 141-143 ANWARĪ, AWḤAD-AL-DĪN MOḤAMMAD (or ʿALĪ), poet at the court of the Saljuqs in the 6th/12th century. His first name and the name of his father vary even in the earliest sources: According to ʿAwfī ( Lobāb II, p. 125) he was called Moḥammad b. Moḥammad; Moḥammad Ẓāher Samarqandī (author of the Sendbād-nāma), a contemporary of the poet, in his work AʿrāzÎʷ al-sīāsa fī aḡrāż al-rīāsa, gives the name as Moḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Esḥ…

mystic and poet of the 14th century who used ʿEmād or, more rarely, ʿEmād-e Faqīh, as a pen name. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 4, pp. 378-379 ʿEMĀD-AL-DĪN ʿALĪ FAQĪH KERMĀNĪ, mystic and poet of the 8th/14th century who used ʿEmād or, more rarely, ʿEmād-e Faqīh, as a pen name. He was born in Kermān toward the end of the 7th/13th century. Both his father, Maḥmūd Faqīh, and ʿEmād-al-Dīn were religious scholars and mystics whose spiritual pedigree reached back, through the teacher Neẓām-al-Dīn M…

a collection of manuscripts, printed works, and artifacts, predominantly Oriental, assembled by Alfred Chester Beatty and opened to the public in Dublin in 1954. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 4, pp. 397-400 i. The Library and Its Founder Alfred Chester Beatty (b. New York City, 7 February 1875, d. Monaco, 19 January 1968) was the son of a prosperous banker and stockbroker (Kennedy, p. 22) and was educated at private schools and Princeton University before transferring to Columbia University in New York.…