Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Samaneh Alizadeh ¹
• Zahra RiahiZamin ²

¹ Persian Language and Literature, Literature and Humanities,Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

² Persian Language and Literature, Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Rawh al-Arwah fi sharh asmaa al-malek al-fattah written by Shahab al-din ahmad ebn mansur sama'ani (487-534) is the earliest independent Persian book on the Divine Names and one of the masterpieces of Persian prose. This book is replete with Qur’anic verses, hadiths, narrations, anecdotes and Persian and Arabic poetry.The present study attempts to demonstrate an important yet lesser-known work like Rawh al-Arwah has been influenced by earlier mystical and Sufi sources, and how much it has, in turn, impacted subsequent works. This research, conducted using a descriptive qualitative content analysis method with library-based data collection tools, indicates that after the Qur'an and Hadith, Abu al-Qasim Qoshayri influenced Sama'ani both in terms of ideas and thoughts as well as language and content. Many of the Arabic anecdotes and sayings in Rawh al-Arwah can be traced back to Tahzib al-Asrar fī osul al-Sufiyah by Khargushi Nishaburi and Hilyat al-Awliya’ and Tabaqat al-Asfiya’ by Abu Nu‘aym Isfahani. A considerable portion of Rawh al-Arwah has been drawn from Sharh Taʿarruf by Mostameli Bokhari, without any mention of the original work or its author. The majority of the Persian poetry cited in Rawh al-Arwah is taken from Sana'i, and numerous sayings of Abu Saʿid Abu'l-Khayr are also quoted throughout the work.
Various scattered verses by poets such as Rudaki, Masʿud Saʿd Salman, Amir Muʿizzi, Khayyam, and Anvari also appear in Rawh al-Arwah. Additionally, a few poems by Mowlavi, ʿIraqi, and Saʿdi have been incorporated into the text, predominantly reflecting scribal interventions.
Overall, it can be said that Samaʿani’s use of these sources involved literal quotations, the adaptation of mystical, ethical, and philosophical themes, the translation of expressions, and the citation of the sayings of great religious figures in an eloquent and poetic language.

Keywords

• Rawh al-Arwah
• Sama‘ani
• Sama‘ani’s sources
• Qushayri
• Khargushi Nishaburi
• Abu Nu‘aym Isfahani
• Persian poets