Another al-‘Awfí’s Persian version hitherto undis­covered. work of Muḥammad al-‘Awfí, which is very little known and incorrectly described is the Persian Translation mentioned above. Until now only one translation by Ḥusayn b. As‘ad b. Ḥusayn ad-Dihistání al-Muayyadí is known as the earliest Persian version of the Faraj. Charles Rieu* has given a full account of this work, but he has neither fixed the date of composition nor mentioned anything about al-‘Awfí’s efforts in this connection. Ethé*, in the description of Nos. 733, 737, 738 of his Catalogue, has left the authorship of the last two Mss. undecided, and has conjectured that Ḥusayn b. As‘ad’s Translation is of a prior date. And again in his article in the Grundriss*, on “Die Erzählende und poetische Prosa”, he mentions a translation of the Faraj by al-‘Awfí, but does not add much to our information about this work. The learned Mírzá Muḥammad Khán of Qazwín, while discussing this translation of al-‘Awfí says*, “And it is not known, whether the translation of the Kitábu’l-Faraj ba‘da’sh-Shidda by Ḥusayn b. As‘ad ibnu’l-Ḥusayn, which we have in our hands nowa­days, was prior or subsequent to that by the author (al-‘Awfí), since it is not known at what period the translator (Ḥusayn) lived”. The existence of the two Mss. of the latter half of al-‘Awfí’s Translation in the India Office Library was not known to him, hence he was unable to determine the actual dates of these two Translations by al-‘Awfí and Ḥusayn respectively.

Therefore, The Scope of the present notice. the object of this notice is to determine the exact dates of both the translations, and to establish the priority of al-‘Awfí’s to that of Ḥusayn’s Version, and to elucidate a few points about the life of al-‘Awfí, which are mentioned in the original Preface to this work, and in a Subscription appended to al-‘Awfí’s Persian Translation* of al-Faraj by one of his contemporaries, and in the Jawámi‘ itself.

Let The two statements of al-‘Awfí about his own Trans­lation. us first of all consider what al-‘Awfí himself has to say about this translation in his own Preface [Ind. Off. 1432. f1b-2a.] = [Ind. Off. 720. f1b].

<Arabic>

And again in the Jawámi‘ (D. f22a = C. f360a. IV. vii. Int. 1848.)

<Arabic>

There Importance of one of the two Mss.
exist two Mss. [Ind. Off. 1432 and 720 (= Ethé’s Cat. Nos. 737-738)] in the library of the India Office, of the second half of this translation by al-‘Awfí, upon which the following criticism of this work is based. Ms. [Ind. Off. 1432] deserves special attention, as it contains a Subscription on ff. 456b-459a, which is of capital importance in determining the history of this translation and a few doubtful points about the life of the author.

This History of the transcription of this work. Ms. was transcribed in the city of Karkh a suburb of Baghdád. The colophon is defective and reads thus:

<Arabic> (f459a) <Arabic> [probably as Ethé also reads

The copyist has purposely omitted his name and the date is also uncertain; probably it was transcribed in the tenth century of the Hijra, but the Subscription, called Faṣl, at the end of this Ms. forms a part of the original transcription by a contemporary, hence its importance is enhanced. The writer of this note is Muḥammad [b.] ‘Umar [b.] Muḥammad of Samarqand, a friend of al-‘Awfí, who happened to visit Kanbáyat (Cambay) where our author was appointed as a judge by the ruler, Malik Náṣiru’d-Dín Qabácha of Sind, and where this unauthorised translation was copied by the above-mentioned Samarqandí and kept in secret, and later on collated by him from the author’s original copy once more, as follows: [Ind. Off. 1432] ff456b-459a.

<Arabic> (f457a) <Arabic>** (f457b) <Arabic>**** (f458a) <Arabic>*

<Arabic>

The The importance of the above Sub­scription. importance of this document is enhanced on account of the following reasons: The details of al-‘Awfí’s life are very little known; excepting what is derived from his own works there is no other contemporary account or source from which an exact estimate of his life and works can be formed. This account is written in the lifetime of our author, and by one who was on intimate terms with him and had an equal aptitude for literary pursuits, as is evident from the eagerness with which he seized the opportunity of transcribing this translation even without the permission of the author.

Unfortunately Corrobora­tion of facts. the Ms. is defective and the name of the transcriber is not identifiable with any of the persons mentioned in the group of al-‘Awfí’s contemporaries in the Lubáb; but there is no reason to doubt the validity of his own statement about the secret transcript, in which he confesses his guilt, while on the other hand the historical facts mentioned in this note about the inroads of the Mongols on Sind and Múltán in the year 621 A. H. are corroborated by later historians like Minháj-í-Siráj.

<Arabic> [Add. 26,189. Br. Mus.] f169a = M.T.N. p. 143.

Although al-‘Awfí in Kanbáyat between 620—621 A. H. this note is not intended to give a full account of al-‘Awfí’s life, yet we obtain a glimpse of the man and the author, as situated in Kanbáyát (Cambay), at a particular period of his literary activity, from which we gather that he was the Judge of that place in the province of Nahrwála, known in modern times as Gujrát, then a dependency of Malik Náṣiru’d-Dín Qabácha. He was also considered as a person of acknowledged merit among the literary men who flocked to the court of that ruler immediately after the destruction of Khwárazm and Khurásán by the Mongols. The author himself relates in the Jawámi‘ (A. f119b. I. vi. 366) an anecdote* connected with the justice of an Indian Ráy and the outrage committed against the Muslims of Kanbáyat by infidels who profaned the Chief Mosque; and in this passage he describes the surroundings incidentally. Thus the period of his stay in Kanbáyat and the date of the composition of this work can be determined: it lies between 620/1 A. H. It appears that the author took up this translation soon after he had finished his Lubáb at the end of 617 A. H. which, in fact, was a preliminary step to the composition of the grand Collection of Anecdotes.

It Historical data for the period of ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir al-Fariyúmadí. appears from the preface of Ḥusayn’s Translation* that he prepared this work while Amír Arghún was engaged in his campaigns at Tabríz, under the orders of Mangú, and while he was working in the capacity of a personal secretary to ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir b. Zangí al-Fariyúmadí*, the Governor of Amír Arghún in the province of Khurásán and Mázandarán, to whom this work is dedicated. Our information about Ḥusayn is very meagre, but an attempt is made in this notice to establish his career and adduce circumstantial evidence from contemporary and other sources.

The 641 A. H. = 1243—4 A. D. Amír Arghún nominates Amír Ḥusayn, Khwája Fakhru’d-Dín and others from the ranks of the secretaries to the management of Khurásán and Mázandarán while he is engaged with the affairs of Tabríz*.

The 647 A. H. = 1249 A. D. Amír Arghún returns from Tabríz, and sends Amír Ḥusayn to Urdú, the Mongol capital, to explain the reason of his return; Ḥusayn performs this mission successfully. A little later Amír Arghún himself appears at the court of Aghúl Gháyimísh held at Urdú and clears his reputation against the allegations of insubordination to the supreme authority of the Mongol Empress*. In the meantime Amír Ḥusayn and Ṣáḥibu’d-Díwán [Bahá’u’d-Dín Muḥammad Juwayní] had gone to attend the court of Bátú, in pursuance of his order*.

The 649 A. H. = 1251 A. D. Amír Arghún attends the Great Qúriltáy, on the accession of Mangú Qá’án, and is reinstated in the Governorhsip of Khurásán*.

After 651 A. H. = 1253 A. D. his return to Khurásán Amír Arghún tries to carry out the orders of Mangú about the assessment of the revenues and nominates Ṣáḥib ‘Izzu’d-Dín [b.] Ṭáhir, who was already the sole Governor of Khurásán and Mázandarán, to the Commission of Land Settlement. Most probably Ḥusayn b. As‘ad accompanied him, as he was con­nected with this affair also*.

According 654 A. H. = 1256 A. D. to Dawlatsháh*, Húlágú was given the appanage of Írán on the accession of Mangú to the Mongol throne, and at the time when he was advancing upon the Assassins of Alámút, he stayed in one of the gardens of the Amír Arghún called Manṣúriyya, where the family of Amír Arghún and Khwája ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir, his viceroy, used to reside*.

And 656 A. H. = 1258 A. D. again we find Amír Arghún in Khurásán for the inspection of the revenues and once more entrusting financial and other important affairs to Khwája ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir*.

Dawlatsháh, under the biography of the poet Sa‘íd-i-Harawí*, gives the account of Khwája ‘Izzu’d-Dín [b.] Ṭáhir Fariyúmadí as the poet’s patron:

“He was the Wazír of Khurásán at the time of the ascendency of the sons of Chingíz Khán, and resided in the city of Ṭús; and in the reign of Húlágú Khán, at the instigation of Amír Arghún Áqá, was dismissed from the Wizárat, and had to pay a fine, and his son Khwája Wajíhu’d-Dín Zangí was placed in his stead”.

Then he quotes a panegyric of the poet Sa‘íd written in honour of ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir, which is also a conclusive proof of the responsible position which the Khwája held in those days.

This Determination of the date of Ḥusayn’s Ver­sion. is all that can be gathered about Ḥusayn b. As‘ad b. Ḥusayn ad-Dihistání al-Mu’ayyadí and his patron, ‘Izzu’d-Dín b. Ṭáhir b. Zangí al-Fariyúmadí, the Governor of Khurásán, to whom this Translation is dedicated. Although the exact date of the composition cannot be ascertained with certainty, it can be safely fixed during the period of his patron’s Governorship of Khurásán and Mázandarán, i.e. between 651 and 660 A. H., as we have shown above. Hence the conjecture of Ethé in his descriptions [Ind. Off. 1664; 1432 = 733; 737 of his Catalogue] of these two translations that Ḥusayn’s translation is prior to al-‘Awfí’s seems utterly unfounded. The present investigation undoubtedly establishes that Ḥusayn b. As‘ad translated the Faraj at least thirty years after al-‘Awfí, who had no knowledge of it whatsoever and whose translation was the first.

Coming His Magnum opus, the Jawámi‘. now to the last work of our author, his magnum opus, the Jawámi‘u’l-Ḥikáyát wa Lawámi‘u’r-Riwáyát, a collection which took nearly five years of his life-time, containing four parts, each divided into 25 chapters, and consisting of 2,113 anecdotes taken from about 93 mentioned sources, and probably from many more unmentioned. According to the author’s own statement in the Preface to this work (A. f21b), he had already planned it, at the request of Malik Náṣiru’d-Dín Qabácha, but had not finished it when the conquest of Uchcha, the siege of the fort of Bhakkar, the drowning of his former patron-monarch, and the triumph of Shamsu’d-Dín Iltutmish took place in 625 A. H.. At this critical juncture our author was also among the besieged, and later, like Minháj-i-Siráj*, had to change masters. From this time onwards we see him in the service of Sultan Iltutmish, under the patronage of the Wazír Qiwámu’d-Dín entitled the Niẓámu’l-Mulk Muḥammad b. Abí Sa‘d al-Junaydí, at whose behest he resuscitated this work and to whom he dedicated it later. There is practically nothing autobiographic, which would throw some fresh light on the sunset of his life, except occasional references to the court and the Wazír in the conclusions of the chapters of the Jawámi‘. The allusion to the rebellion of Malik Ikhtiyáru’d-Dín Dawlatsháh* Balká b. Ḥusámu’d-Dín ‘Awadh Khalají, the governor of Lakhnawtí, and the victory of Iltutmish over him in 628* A. H., signifies that it happened in the past and that the Jawámi‘ was in progress. In this respect, al-‘Awfí offers a great contrast to the younger and more famous Minháj-i-Siráj, who appears constantly on the scene. Among the innumerable eulogies, one is entirely autobiographic and sums up his position at the court of Iltutmish. (A. f9b = D. f105a = C. f88a. II, iii. 1228)*.