absolutely indispensable to the student of. Persian literature. Apart from this general consideration, the inclusion of the Tadhkiratu ‘l-Awliya in the present Series.
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PKAuttoosv./PREFACE.MysticismissocongenialtothePersianrace,anditsin-fluencehasbeensogreatinalmosteverydepartmentoftheirlifeandthought,thatsomeknowledgeofthehistoryanddoctrinesoftheSufis,astheMuhammadanmysticscallthemselves,isabsolutelyindispensabletothestudentofPersianliterature.Apartfromthisgeneralconsideration,theinclusionoftheTadhkiratu’l-AwliyainthepresentSeriesseemstobejustifiedbythefactthatitistheoldestworkofthekindinPersian!andthat,althoughdeficientindatesandbiographicaldetailsofanysort,itcontainsalargeamountofmaterialwhichisnottobefoundinthelaterBiographiesor,sofarasIknow,anywhereelse.ItsvalueasasourceforthehistoryofSiifiismcanhardlybeover-estimated.ComparedwithJami’sNafahdtn’l-Uns,ithasthisimmenseadvantage,thatitsarticlesbeingmuchfewer1TheKashfuH-MahjubcomposedprobablyaboutacenturyandahalfearlierbycAlib.cUthmanal-Jullabial-Hujvfn(seeRieu’sPersianCatalogue^p.343)cannotbeclassedamongtheTadhkirasinrespectofitsformandarrangement.AnotherworkofthesameperiodastheKashfuH-Mahjub^viz.theTabaqatu’s-SufiyyabycAbdullahb.Muhammadal-Ansarial-Harawi(t481),isnolongerextant,thoughwehaveamodernisedandenlargedrecensionofitinJami’sNafahdtu”l-l’iis.ByanoversightIhaveincludedit(p.18infra)amongtheArabicworkswhichcAttarmayhaveused.Itwas,indeed,derivedfromtheArabicTabaqatii’s-SufiyyaofAbucAbdu’r-Rahmanas-Sulami(t4I2)ibutwasitselfwritten,asJamiexpresslystates,in’theancientdialectofHerat’,i.e.inarchaicPersian.1A”-^
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innumberarefarmoreexhaustive;whereJamigivesonlyarapidsketchcAttardrawsafull-lengthpicture:thus(totakethreeofthemostimportantShaykhsnoticedinthisvolume)thearticlesonDhu’n-Niin,BayazidofBistam,andSarias-Saqati,whomJamidismissesinsixandahalfpages,occupyaboutseventy-fiveinthepresenteditionoftheTadh-kiratu’l-Awliyd.OnecanreadilyperceivethatwithoutsuchfullnessoftreatmentthetaskoftracingthedevelopmentofStiffdoctrine,andofdeterminingwhatwascontributedtheretobyindividualtheosophists,wouldbeextremelydiffi-cultandprecarious,ifnotaltogetherimpracticable.Fromaliterarypointofview,moreover,theTadhkiratuV-Awliydisnotunworthyofattentionasanexcellent”exampleofearlyPersianprose,plain,terse,anddignified.ThesecharacteristicsarenodoubtlargelyduetotheArabicoriginalsfromwhich,ascAttaracknowledges,thegreatbulkoftheworkiscompiled.Ithaspreservedmanyarchaicforms,ofwhichIproposetogiveacompletelistinthePrefacetoPartII.Thefollowingareespeciallyremarkable.(i)InthePastConditionalinsteadoftheusual^j>S(2ndPersonSingular),^of,and^A-jo/wefindj^Jf,3,1*0^,andj,Ijo_S\Theoriginoftheseformsmustbere-ferredtothePahlaviconstructionofthePastTense(whichalsooccursinsomePersiandialects)’bymeansoftheverb-stemandthepronominalsuffixes,e.g.j>So’thoudidst’,d£^jU’wedid’,andsoon.IntheformswhichwearenowconsideringthepronominalsuffixisattachedtotheverbalstemŠnot,asisgenerallythecaseinPahlavi,tosomeprecedingwordŠandthe^y*xJi^bisappended.Theformsinj,Uarebyfarthecommonestandappear1Seeforexample,thepoemofSacdiprintedinProf.Browne’sNotesonthePoetryofthePersianDialects,J.R.A.S.(1895)p.795sqq.,especiallythe6lhverseandthecommentaryadloc.
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withvaryingfrequencyinalmostallthemanuscriptsthatIhaveused;inoneMS.(C.)theyhave,unlessIammis-taken,entirelydisplacedtheregularform.Jo.S’,forwhichwealsofindXJ^>^,iscomparativelyrare,whileIhavenotbeenabletodiscovermorethanasingleexampleofthesecondpersonpluralwithj>li*.(2)cioforlXjinthesecondpersonplural.Thisispro-bablyadialecticalpeculiarity,asitoccursonlyintheLeydenmanuscript.'(3)(jf^>whichItaketobeadialecticalformofl^$,issometimesusedadverbiallyinthesenseof’just’,’precisely’;e.g.JuUyGy>^(p.A1.%^^^(p.irA,1.if).ThroughnotunderstandingthisusageIhavewronglyejecteditfromthetextinoneortwoinstanceswhicharerecordedinthelistofvariants.MostMSS.oftheTadhkiratu’l-AwliydwithwhichIamacquaintedconsistofseventy-twobiographiesorless2;butseveralcopieshavealsoaSupplementorAppendixcon-tainingusuallyfromtwentytotwenty-fiveadditionalarticlesonillustriousShaykhsofalaterperiod.AsthisSupplementisundoubtedlyoldandincludesmuchinterestingmatter,Ihavedecidedtoincorporateitinthepresenteditionandshallthereforeleavethequestionofitsgenuineness,theMSS.onwhichitstextisfounded,andotherpointsthatmaysuggestthemselvesconcerningit,tobediscussedinthePrefacetoPartII.Forthesakeofclearness,IshallapplythenameTadhkiratu’l-Aivliydsolelytothemain1ThesameformoccursintheBritishMuseumMS.Or.249(seeRieu’sPersianCatalogue^p.342)andisnoted,asProf.Brownehasinformedme,byShukovskionp.8ofhiseditionoftheAsrdru”t-tawhidfimaqdtndti”l-ShaykhAbiScfid(StPetersburg,1899),whichisthesecondworkcontainedintheabove-mentionedMS.2HajjiKhalifa(II,258inFluegel’sedition)saysthatitcontainsthebio-graphiesofseventyShaykhs.
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