An Introduction to the Newly found Manuscript of HizārHikāyat-iSufīyān [The Thousand Tales of Sufis] and Its Author

Document Type : Research article

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The book “Hizār Hikāyat-i Sufīyān” was edited based on three manuscripts and published in 2019. Its fourth manuscript was introduced in an article in 1401. But until now, the name of its author has been shrouded in mystery. In this article, by identifying another manuscript of this book, some ambiguities related to this text are clarified. The newly found manuscript is preserved in the Malik Library with the number 1044, which is in Nasta`liq script and was probably written in the 11th century AH. According to this manuscript, the author of Hizār Hikāyat-i Sufīyān is Isma`īl ibn Abī Mansur ibn Isma`īl Tusī, who lived at least until 526 AH. Hizār Hikāyat-i Sufīyān was probably written in the first half of the 6th century, around the years 525 to 535 AH. It is also emphasized that: The latest manuscripts may have been written from the old and authentic versions and have exceptional information in them and compensate and complete the ambiguities or omissions of the old versions, and therefore their use in correcting the texts is efficient and necessary. In the end, considering the discovery of two other manuscripts of the book of the Thousand Tales of the Sufis - each of which has special features and privileges, especially those that eliminate the omissions and errors of the printed text - and also with the clarification of the name of its author, It is reminded that the time has come for this valuable old text to be edited and published again.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Afšār, Iraj & Dānešpažuh, Mohammad Taqi & Hojjati, Mohammad Bāqer & Monzavi, Ahmad (1975) Fehrest-e ketāb-hāye xattiye ketābxāneye melliye malek (Catalogue of the manuscripts in the Malek National Library and Museum Institution). Tehran: University of Tehran Press. [In Persian].

Afšār, Iraj (1997) “Hezār hekāyat-e sufiyān o Sālehān” (A thousand stories of the righteous and the Sufis), Maʾāref (Knowledge), vol. XIII, no. 3, pp. 62-74. [In Persian].
Afšār, Iraj (2003) "Gozāreš" [Moqaddameʾi bar] Hezār hekāyat-e sufiyān (A thousand stories of the Sufis), persian manuscripts in facsimile, ed. Mahmud Omidsālār & Iraj Afšār. Tehran: Talāye Publication. [In Persian].
Al-Rāfeʾi al-Qazvini, Abd al-Karim (1987) Al-Tadvin fi zekr-e ahl-e al-Elm be-Qazvin (Recording in the mention of scholars in Qazvin), ed. by Azizollāh al-Otaredi. Beirut: Dār al-Kotob al-Elmiyyat Publication. [In Arabic].
­Anonymous writter [probably: Osmān ibn Omar al-Kahf] (1865) Hekāyāt al-sālehin (Stories of the righteous). Lahore: Matbʾa Afsal [lithography]. [In Arabic].
­Anonymous writter [probably: Osmān ibn Omar al-Kahf] (1979) Pand-e pirān, [Probably the original name: Hekāyāt al-sālehin] (Stories of the righteous), ed. by Jalāl Matini. Tehran: The Foundation for Iranian Culture. [In Persian].
Bāyrām, Mikāʾil (1990) “Yeki az qadimtarin manābeʾe adabiyyāat-e tasavvofiye Irān” (One of the oldest sources of Iranian Sufi literature), Maʾāref (Knowledge), vol. VII, No. 2, pp. 138-143. [In Persian].
Derāyati, Mostafā (2010) Fehrestvāreye dastnevešt-hāye Irān (Short Catalogue of Iranian Manuscripts). Tehran: The Library, Museum and Documentation Center of Islamic Consultative Assembly. [In Persian].
Esmāʾil ibn Abi Mansur Tusi (2010) Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān (A thousand stories of the Sufis), ed. by Hāmed Xātamipur. Tehran: Soxan Publication. [In Persian].
Ibn Abi al-Favāres al-Rāzi, Mohammad (2000) “Arbaʾun Hadis fi Fazāʾel Amir al-Moʾmenin”(Forty hadiths about the virtues of Amir al-Moʾmenin Ali), ed. by Rezā Qobādlu, Mirās-e hadis-e šiʾe (The heritage of Shiite hadith), vol. 5, pp. 63-163. [In Arabic].
Ibn al-Juzi, Abu al-Faraj (1995) Al-Montazam fi tarix al-moluk va al-omam (Organized in the History of Kings and Nations), ed. by Mohammad Abd al-Qāder Atā & Mostafā Abd al-Qāder Atā, Naʾim Zarzur. Beirut: Dār al-Kotob al-Elmiyyat Publication. [In Arabic].
Isma`il ibn Abi Mansur Tusi, Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān (A thousand stories of the Sufis), Manuscript Preserved in the Malek National Library and Museum Institution, no. 1044, Written probably in the 12th century AH. [In Persian].
Maʾāref, Majid (2008) “Hadis, gune-hāye taʾlifat-e hadisi” (Hadith, types of hadith writings), Dāneš-nāmeye jahān-e eslām (Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam). Tehran: Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation, vol. 12. pp. 750-756. [In Persian].
Montajab al-Din Abu al-Hasan (1986) Fehrest Asmāʾ ʾolamāʾ al-šiʾa va Mosannafihem (List of Shiite scholers and their books), ed. by Abd al-Aziz Tabātabāʾi, Beirut: Dār al-Azvāʾ Publication. [In Arabic].
Mostowfi, Hamdollāh (1913) Nozhat al-qolub (Purity of hearts), ed. by Guy Le Strange. Leiden: Brill. [In Persian].
Pourjavādi, Nasrollāh (2010) “Nosxe-bargardān-e hezār hekāyat-e sufiyān” (The facsimile edition of Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān), Nāmeye Bahārestān (Bahārestān Magazine), vol. XI, no. 16. pp. 287-288. [In Persian].
Qazvini Rāzi, Nasir al-Din (1980) Naqz (Baʾz-o masāleb al-navāseb-e fi naqz-e baʾz-e fazāʾeh-e al-ravāfez) (Revoking (Some of the shortcomings of the Navaseb in revoking some of the scandals of the Shiites)), ed. by Jalāl al-Din Mohaddes. Tehran: Anjoman-e Āsār-e Melli Publication. [In Persian].

Sādeqi, Ali-Ašraf (2024) “Pasvand-hāye tahbibi dar dowreye eslāmi 6” (Persian endearing suffixes in the Islamic period 6), Nāmeye farhangestān (lexicography), vol. 23. Issue 2. pp 11-36. [In Persian].

Šafiʾi Kadkani, Mohammad Rezā (1998) “Safine-ʾi az šeʾr-hāye erfʾniye qarn-e čahārom va panjom” (An anthology of mystical poems from the fourth and fifth centuries), Jašn-nāmeye ostad Zabihollāh Safā (Acknowledgement on Professor Safa`s eighty fifth birthday), ed. by Seyyed Mohammad Torābi. Tehran: Šahāb Editions, pp 340-360. [In Persian].
Šafiʾi Kadkani, Mohammad Rezā (2003) “Nokte-ʾi now-yāfte darbāreye Xāqāni” (Newly discovered facts about Khaghani), Biannual Scientific-Research Journal Persian Language and Literature, Former journal of the faculty of literature, University of Tabriz, vol. 45, issue 185. pp. 1-6 [In Persian].
Samarqandi, Abu Hafs, Rawnaq al-Majāles (The prevalence of assemblies), Manuscript Preserved in the library of University of Riyadh. no. 218 R.S., Written probably in the 12th century AH. [In Arabic].
Vālāzade, Abolfazl (2006) “Jozʾ, Estelāh-e Hadisi” (Jozʾ, a hadith term), Dāneš-nāmeye jahān-e eslām (Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam). Tehran: Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation. Vol. 10. pp. 231-232. [In Persian].
Xātamipur, Hāmed (2010) Introduction to: Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān (A thousand stories of the Sufis). Tehran: Soxan Publication. [In Persian].
Xātamipur, Hāmed (2022) “Nosxe-ʾi now-yāfte az Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān” (A Newly-Found manuscript of Hezār Hekāyat-e Sufiyān), Gozāreš-e Mirās (Heritage Report), 3th series, vol. 5, no. 3, pp 41-50. [In Persian]
Zakariyāʾ Qazvini (1998) Āsār al-belād va axbār al-ebād (Antiquities of countries and news of people). Beirut: Dār Sāder Publication. [In Arabic].
Persian Language and Literature
Volume 78, Issue 251
July 2025
Pages 28-51

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 10 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 01 July 2025
  • Accept Date: 26 November 2024
  • Publish Date: 22 July 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics