Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی
Author
Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Mushaf No. 17394 of the Mar’ashi Library, written by Ismail b. Mubarak in 665 AH, contains a commentary translation of the Qur'an into Persian, which belongs to a part of the vast linguistic realm of Transoxiana. Comparing the present translation with the translation of the Qur'an from the existing Persian interpretations before the seventh century AH and other existing translations of the Holy Qur'an that have been published or introduced in full or in part, it is determined that this translation or the text that was copied by Ismail b. Mubarak, owes nothing to any of the previous sources. At the end of the manuscript, the scribe mentions one of his sources, which is the book "Al-Moudih" by Haddadi (the great scholar and commentator of the fourth and fifth centuries AH), which shows that he had this missing text on the subject of Quranic sciences. Examining the linguistic and interpretive values of such a work will clarify its place among the existing translations of the Qur'an into Persian. Part of this article is about the origin of the manuscript and its history from Transoxiana to Iran. In the other section, the physical characteristics and artistic values of the manuscript are stated. The nature and structure of this translation and that in many parts it becomes an " commentary translation" is also mentioned. Finally, a number of linguistic features of the work are described in several sections to show its place in Persian language studies.
Highlights
The Values of Quran Translation of Esmâʾil b. Mobârak
(665 AH)[1]
An important part of the ancient heritage of the Persian language has been preserved in the translations and commentaries of the Quran in this language, and a significant part of these sources has not yet been studied. One of these important Persian sources is the commentary translation of Esmâʾil b. Mobârak from 665 A.H. (Mushaf No. 17394 of the Mar’ashi Library in Qom), which contains important linguistic forms and rare words related to the vast linguistic realm of Transoxiana. This manuscript is considered to be one of the best and most distinguished copies among the translated Mushafs preserved in the libraries of Iran and Qom. For this reason, in a part of the article, the translated manuscripts of the Quran in the city of Qom are briefly discussed in order to better understand the position of the manuscript of Esmâʾil b. Mobârak. The current manuscript contains various arrays and decorations related to the date 665 A.H.: small inscriptions at the beginnings of Suwar; and special marks on the margins of the pages, including Taxmis, Tašʾir, Juz’, Nim-Juz’, Hizb and Sajdah, as well as having small golden flowers at the bottom of the all verses. By comparing the present translation with the translation of the Quran from the existing Persian commentaries before the 7th century A.H. as well as other existing translations of the Holy Quran, it is determined that this translation is not indebted to any of the previous sources. At one place at the end of the manuscript, the scribe mentions one of his sources, namely Kitab Al-Mūḍiḥ by Haddādi, which shows that he had this missing text in the subject of Quranic sciences. There are important explanations about this source in the article, for instance, it has been known that Imam Haddādi, the great Quran scholar of the 4th and 5th A.H. in Xorâsân, had a book called “Kitab Al-Mūḍiḥ li ilm al-Qurʾān" which is now missing and only a part of it remains in the manuscript No. 3883 of the Chester Beatty Library in Ireland, which has been edited and published. This remaining part of that missing book is actually only the Arabic poems that were cited in the said book as an example. One possibility is that maybe the named book was entirely in Arabic and Esmâʾil b. Mobârak, when quoting from it, translated those parts into Persian himself. Another possibility is that maybe that book was in Persian or maybe bilingual (Arabic and Persian) and Esmâʾil b. Mobârak quoted only the Persian parts of it. In another part of the article, some specifics of this work are also stated from the perspective of Persian language studies and its values among the existing translations of the Quran are clarified. In fact, in this section, it seems necessary to refer to some special spellings, and the use of rare or outstanding words and expressions in this text. For example, we can refer to these specific words:
âbgine ke bar-fowr beškanad (matā’ al-γurour), âtaš-e abr (ṣawāʿiq), ostowârkâr (hakīm), anduhgen, bāz-boride (farīḍat), baččey-e mâdine (unθā), bad-segâlidan (kayd), parhizidan, pustak (fatīl), birâni (xarāb), tarskāri (taqwā), čâhake pošte xasteye xormâ (naqir), čahârgâne, xâz (in an interpretation for: fatīl), xāne-šinande (qāʿid), xastun šodan (iqrār), doxtandarān (rabāʾib), darčafsidan, došmanâyegi, dogâne, divân (tāqūt), ruy-šenâs (wajīh), zâl (az an antonym for: javân), ziyândan (iḥyāʾ), sâzvâri peydâ ârad (yuwaffiqu), setanbe (marīd), saxun/ soxun (=soxan), šāyšne âtaš (aṣḥāb al-nār), šab-parak, šatâlang (kaʾbatayn), šestan, qarâbatân, kâr-rân (wakīl), gomânumand (mumtar), gowârân (hanīʾ), gowârande (marīʾ), gurkand (ḥufrat), lašn (ṣafwān), nâxâhân šodan, nâsâzvâri (nušuz), nawâsgân (asbāṭ), volj (salwā). This research also shows how Esmâʾil b. Mobârak, or the source he was influenced by, tried to distance himself from the common tradition of his time, i.e. pure translation, for approaching a natural use of the Persian language in the tradition of commentary translation of Quran. In the early parts of his work, he also had a tendency to provide more detailed explanatory notes in the margins of his manuscript, which he abandoned somewhere, for an unknown reason.
Keywords
Holy Quran, Commentary translation, Persian, Transoxiana, Lexicography.
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[1] Javâd Bašari: Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature of University of Tehran.
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