Correction of Selected Passages from Nafthat al-Masdur: A Critical Review of Yazdgardi’s Edition

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Nafthatul- Masdur are among the most important texts of Persian prose, with Dr. Amirhassan Yazdgerdi being the first to edit it using four manuscripts, The date of writing these manuscripts is new. Although he has worked hard to publish

2 Ph.D in Persian Language and Literature, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran;

10.22034/perlit.2025.68665.3839

Abstract

Amir Hassan Yazdgerdi, relying on four relatively late manuscripts, produced the first critical edition of Nafthat al-Masdūr. However, a comparative analysis of these manuscripts with his edited text reveals several inaccuracies in the transcription of words and the recording of textual variants. This study, incorporating the Tehran University manuscript—unavailable to Yazdgerdi in its original form—and examining the influence of Mojtaba Minavi’s conjectural emendations, classifies these errors into three categories: (1) readings without manuscript support, (2) inaccurate reporting of textual variants, and (3) omission of significant variants. The findings indicate that the correct forms of certain phrases differ from Yazdgerdi’s readings, including:بأس این پادشاه bā’s-e īn pādeshāh →بأس پادشاه bā’s-e pādeshāh;سلطانِ ألیس solṭān-e alaysa → شیطان ألیسshayṭān-e alays; جان و جهانjān o jahān → جانِ جهان jān-e jahān; لا یحصد lā yaḥṣod → لم یحصدlam yaḥṣod; and پای‌برجایpāy-barjāy → پابرجاpābargā. This article critically evaluates such cases and provides the corrected readings alongside facsimiles of the original manuscripts.

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Persian Language and Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 October 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 August 2025
  • Revise Date: 13 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 13 October 2025
  • Publish Date: 13 October 2025

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