(13)	How ‘Adhudu’d-Dawla the Daylamite, at the report of the dishonesty of the chief Qádhí, devised means to detect it, entrapped and disgraced the Qádhí, and made him disgorge to a belated claimant the two jugs of gold deposited in his charge, (A. f122b. I. vi. 382). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 69-77, where the story is told at much greater length and details about the youth’s adventures and the coaxing of the Qádhí are amplified. The story in its outline is the same in both, but al-‘Awfí’s source is different as his version appears to be an independent and abridged translation from some other earlier work.
(14)	A similar complaint before the Caliph al-Mu‘tadhid about the dishonesty of a Qádhí who tampered with a purse of 1000 dínárs deposited by a pilgrim, and how the Caliph tore his own turban and detected the secret of the Qádhí through an expert mender of clothes in the town, (A. f122a. I. vi. 381). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 77-80, where the ruler is mentioned as the Sultan Maḥmúd and a few details are changed. Again, like the previous anecdote, this one is also drawn by both from similar sources independently and the stories are coloured according to individual tastes. The source being unknown, it cannot be said which version is more reliable.
(15)	A Háshimí excuses his son on account of his witty reply when questioned about his rowdiness while intoxicated, (A. f207b. I. xvi. 901). Cf. N. S. N. p. 118; the story is short in both and agrees very closely.
(16)	How Bárbad the musician saved the life of a condemned criminal by a witty reply to the king Parwíz, (A. f203b. I. xvi. 855). Cf. N. S. N. p. 118; where the story is related on the authority of [Ibn] Khurdádbih, and Bázíd (<Arabic>) instead of Bárbad (<Arabic>) is mentioned (see T. S. N. p. 173 n. 3).
(17)	Núshírwán, pleased at the witty replies of an old man who was planting a nut­meg tree, rewards him amply, (D. f200a. III. iii. 1561). Cf. N. S. N. p. 118-9, where the story is similar though a few details differ; both appear to have been drawn from identical sources. Another version probably adopted from the above is related in the Jawámi‘ in connection with the Caliph Hárún and his rewards for the witty replies of an old man who described his age as four years only, and the reason for planting a nutmeg tree at such an advanced age. (A. f206b. I. xvi. 887).
(18)	‘Abdu’r-Raḥmán Khál a courtier of the Sultan Maḥmúd falsely accuses a sage of Herát of idolatry and drinking; the Sultan, after due deliberation, without having summoned the sage, interrogates ‘Abdu’r-Raḥmán on oath, upon which he confesses his malicious motive of acquiring the palace of the sage, and thereby the Sultan is saved from punishing an innocent and holy person, (D. f268a. III. xx. 1735). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 120-1, where from an allusion to ‘Bikrek’ and the Sultan Shahíd, Schefer has identified the king as Alp Arslán, but ‘Abdu’r-Raḥmán Khál as the maternal uncle of Alp Arslán is not yet known (cf. T. S. N. p. 177 n.) except through the Siyásat-náma, whereas in the Jawámi‘ he is expressly mentioned as a courtier of the Sultan Maḥmúd. Most probably the version of the Siyásat-náma is correct and al-‘Awfí, although he borrowed the anecdote from here, did not examine closely the accuracy of his statement.
(19)	An account of the doings of the two public prosecutors appointed by the Caliph al-Ma’mún who presented a striking contrast in their character, temper and reputation, (D. f240a. III. xiii. 1682). (See above p. 48, The Ta’ríkh-i-Ál-i-‘Abbás is mentioned as the source). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 122-5; no source is mentioned and the story is evidently taken from the above, as a reference to it occurs in N. S. N. p. 204. This is again an instance of a common source being utilised by both independently, as the rendering into Persian and arrangement under different headings from different points of view clearly indicate.
(20)	Zayd b. Aslam’s account of a night patrol of the Caliph ‘Umar, during which they heard the plaintive cry of a widow against the Caliph, as she was beguiling her sons to sleep by the pretence of cooking food for them, and the Caliph’s speedy succour and humble supplication to her, (D. f156a II. xvi. 1440). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 128-9. The story agrees in both very closely, and there is another similar story in the Jawámi‘ reported by Suwayd b. ‘Alqama in a different manner, (A. f123a. I. vi. 386).
(21)	How a cruel governor of the time of the Sultan Maḥmúd attained his redemption in the next world by a single act of kindness he had shown to a dog suffering from scab, (D. f124b. II. vii. 1320). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 129-30, where the governor’s name is mentioned as Rashíd the Ḥájjí. There is no verbal resemblance between the texts of this story, whereas in the Jawámi‘ it is given in a fuller form with minor details not found in the Siyásat-náma and is, probably, drawn from identical sources.
(22)	The Sultan Maḥmúd, jealous of the numerous titles bestowed by the Caliph (al-Qádir bi’llah) on the Khán of Samarqand, contrives illegitimate means, procures a few of the mandates of the Caliph from the court of Samarqand and sends to the Caliph pointing out the Khán’s insult in order to excite his wrath and extort titles for himself, (A. f218b. I. xviii. 998). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 131-6, where this anecdote is told at a much greater length and with minute details, not found in the Jawámi‘, about the secret mission of the wily women who obtained the mandate from the court of Samarqand, and in the end how the Caliph, in spite of his resentment, had to award Maḥmúd the title of Amínu’l-Milla in addition to the already bestowed Yamínu’d-Dawla; but there are many similar expressions from which we can infer that al-‘Awfí borrowed it from N. S. N.. There are two other anecdotes in the Jawámi‘ (A. f218b. I. xviii. 996-7) previous to this, in which persistent efforts of Maḥmúd to extort titles from the Caliph are mentioned. One of them relates the threat to the Caliph and the counter-stroke of the Caliph by the letter of <Arabic>, and the other, as to how the title of Mawláy (<Arabic>) was changed into Wálí (<Arabic>) at the clever suggestion of *Ḥasnak, the governor of Níshápúr.
(23)	Alp Arslán the Saljúq ruler’s prudence in suppressing the Báṭinís illustrated by his rebuke to Árdim on appointing the Dih Khudáy of Ábá, the Báṭiní, as his personal secretary, (D. f151b. II. xv. 1427) cf. N. S. N. pp. 139-41. This anecdote and the previous one (No. 18) about ‘Abdu’r-Raḥmán Khál, which throw light on the policy and deliberate action of Alp Arslán, are typical of the Síyásat-náma. Besides others which are common to the Jawámi‘ and Siyásat-náma, these two instances afford us concrete data for the direct indebtedness of al-‘Awfí to the work of Niẓámu’l-Mulk. In N. S. N. the name of the Dih Khudáy is mentioned as Yaḥyá, and full details about Alp Arslán’s precautions and the Niẓámu’l-Mulk’s fears of the growing danger to the state, and Árdim’s experiment with pieces of cord one by one till at last a number of cords when spun into a rope could not be broken by him, are given; but apart from slight variation and abridgement the wording of the story in the Jawámi‘ is almost identical.
(24)	The story of the first appearance of Barmak of Balkh at the court of ‘Abdu’l-Malik b. Marwán, and how he was disgraced for carrying on him poison which affected the wondrous poison-detecting armlet of the Caliph; and a similar story related in this connection by Barmak about the wondrous silver fish of the ruler of Gurgán that possessed the peculiar property of attracting a ruby which was thrown into the sea, whereupon the Caliph acquired the fish from the ruler of Gurgán and took Barmak into his favour; but after ‘Abdu’l-Malik’s death, his son Hishám conferred some estates on Barmak, for which reason he settled in ‘Iráq and Shám, (D. f79a. IV. xx. 2003). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 151-5, also Q. A. M. pp. 218-9. In the Siyásat-náma, as Schefer (T. N. S. p. 224) and Nöldeke (ZDMG. loc. cit. p. 766) have pointed out, the author curiously enough makes “Ja‘far b Barmak” (assassinated 187 A. H. = 803 A. D.) a contemporary of the Caliph Sulaymán b. ‘Abdu’l-Malik (reigned 96-9 A. H. = 715-7 A. D.); the same anachronism is com­mitted by Zakariyyá Qazwíní, who without verifying it has entirely reproduced the same story; but al-‘Awfí, whatever the real circumstances of the first appearance of Barmak may be, has set the story in the court of the Caliph ‘Abdu’l-Malik b. Marwán (reigned 65-86 A. H. = 685-705 A. D.) and has drawn this story from some other earlier source, which in its wording and contents differs materially from that given by the Niẓámu’l-Mulk.
(25)	The unlawful passion of Súdába for her step-son Siyáwush, her failure and revenge and Kay-Ká’ús’s wrath against her, (A. f55b. I. iv. 138), cf. N. S. N. pp. 157-8. This story is told at length in the Jawámi‘ and is borrowed from the Ghurar pp. 168-212; whereas in N. S. N. it is very short and differs in its form considerably. This is an instance of an account which is entirely independent of N. S. N.
(26)	An Israelite sage wastes the three chances of effective prayer given to him by the Lord by consulting and carrying out the wishes of his foolish wife, (D. f283b. III. xxiv. 1780). Cf. N. S. N. pp. 160-2, where the story is told in connection with the wives of the Prophet, ‘Á’isha and Ḥafṣa, and is designated the story of Yúsuf and Kirsif. In the Jawámi‘ it is told in a similar chapter, but in connection with the Qur’ánic verse (vii, 174).
(27)	A detailed account of Mazdak: his early appearance in the reign of Qubád, his contrivance to make the fire speak and Qubád’s acceptance and public procla­mation of his communistic doctrines, Núshírwán’s protest and consultation with the Múbad of Fárs to dissuade his father, the encounter of the Múbad of Fárs with Mazdak, the exposure of the latter’s secret and dark designs against Qubád, Qubád and Núshírwán’s effort to overcome Mazdak, the grand feast and the skilful extermination of the Mazdakites, and the accession of Núshírwán to the throne, (D. f220b. III. viii. 1623), cf. N. S. N. pp. 166-81. The whole account agrees entirely and even the expressions are similar; but al-‘Awfí does not call Mazdak as in N. S. N. the first heresiarch in the world, and has recounted in this chapter, previous to this account, the anecdotes of Zoroaster and Manes, the latter being entirely based on the Átháru’l-Báqiya (pp. 207-9), whereas in N. S. N. (pp. 166, 204) a Ta’ríkh-i-Iṣfahán* is referred to for further details. The account of Mazdak being marred by a big lacuna in the text of the Áthár, we cannot actually determine the source of the anecdote in the Jawámi‘; but the later accounts of Máh-áfaríd and al-Muqanna‘ are similar to those given in the Áthár*. The accounts of al-Muqanna‘ and Bábak al-Khurramí given in N. S. N. differ entirely from the versions in the Jawámi‘; the latter are more reliable than those in N. S. N.