Qaboos-nama

The last page of the Qabus-nama from an edition from 1349 (located in the Malek National Library and Museum in Tehran ).

The Qabus-nama or Qābus nāmeh ( Persian قابوسنامه, DMG Qābūs-nāma , 'Qabus-Buch') is one of the most important Persian-language prose works of the 11th century. The prince's mirror , translated into many languages, was written by Unsur al-Maali Kai-Kawus ibn Iskandar ibn Qabus (approx. 1021-1087), a Persian prince from the Ziyarid dynasty , and is dedicated to his son Gilan-Shah. It is said to have been completed around 1082 and consists of forty-four chapters. Its title does not come from its author.

The work was translated into German for the first time by Heinrich Friedrich von Diez , the Royal Prussian Secret Legation Council and Prelate, formerly extraordinary envoy and authorized minister of the king at the court of Constantinople , and had a great influence on Goethe , the it served as a source of inspiration for his west-east divan .

Excerpt from the text: rules and regulations of musicians (Chapter 36, translation by Diez)

“Know, my son! if you feel like the art of music and want to learn it: then you have to be well-mannered and friendly, not over-bred and uncouth. As far as possible, always use fragrant things such as white smoke, muskrat and rose water and the like, and wear them with you so that you have pleasant smells on you wherever you go. Always be engaging when speaking, because although the musicians are men: their whole behavior must be feminine.
When you come to company: do not always play easy songs and melodies, nor always hard and heavy melodies; for the persons in the assembly may not be of the same nature, but opposed to one another, just as people in general are not of the same disposition. This is the reason why one feels comfortable what another seems uncomfortable. For this reason, the teachers among the musicians have established a certain order for this art, which should be pleasant to all different natures who may be gathered in one place. They have an easy melody to start with. Chusrewani called, composes, which is performed in imperial societies. Afterwards they invented the heavy melodies so that they became easy to start in the modulation. They have been given the name, Rachghiran, which means heavy walk. So the compositions are easy and difficult. The easy ones are for princes and emperors, the heavy ones are made for old and sedate men. But since one perceives that not all people are connoisseurs of art, nor of the nature of the ancients: so a manner has been introduced for tender and young people, according to which one mixes light melodies with gentle tones of joking poems in light syllables and has this manner one given the name Bassid (simple), which is counted among the easy ones. So when musicians enter a meeting for entertainment: they must recite a difficult melody and afterwards give an easy one, and then immediately play a bassid, so that both old and young may take part. But these melodies are not useful for boys and young girls; because their nature is still too low and their concepts are too poor. That is why the teachers on their part easily brought chants and soft tones into melodies, so that they too might benefit from this piece. "

Remarks

↑ Other names are Andarz-nāma , Naṣiḥat-nāma and Pand-nāma .
↑ On the author, see JTP de Bruijn: "KAYKĀVUS Amir ʿOnṣor-al-Maʿāli" in Encyclopaedia Iranica ( online text ) - Edward Granville Browne provides a table of contents in Volume 2, pp. 276 ff., Of his four-volume Literary History of Persia ( Cambridge 1928) (see digitized version )

↑ The headings are (according to Diez): 1. How God can be recognized 2. Praise of the prophets 3. Praise to God 4. Use of the abundance of worship 5. Duties towards father and mother 6. How origins are enhanced through virtue 7. According to which rules one has to speak 8. The last teachings of Nuschirewan 9. The state of old age and youth 10. Decency and rules when eating 11. Behavior when drinking wine 12. Rules of the guests and the invitation of the guests 13. In what way joked and stone and chess must be played 14. The nature of lovers 15. The benefits and harm of cohabitation 18. The order in hunting 19. How to play ball game 20. How to approach the enemy 21. The means, the fortune increase 22. The advantages of keeping deposits and giving them back to their repositor. 24. Where to buy properties if you buy them 25. How to buy horses and recognize the characteristics of the best among them ss 26. How a man must take a wife when he gets married 27. The order in the upbringing of children 28. The advantages of making friends and choosing them 29. Not to be careless about enemies with attacks and schemes 30. That Meritorious of forgiveness and forgiveness 31. How to seek science 32. The merchant trade 33 The rules of doctors and how to live 34 The qualities of poets and poetry 36 The rules of musicians 37 The way of serving emperors 38. The state of Confidants and partners of the emperors 39. The rules of the chancellery offices 40. The order of the Wezirats 41. The rules of military leadership 42. The rules of the emperors 43. The rules of agriculture and agriculture 44. The virtues of virtue.

↑ “This book seemed so important to me that I devoted a lot of time to it and asked several friends to look at it ... The main reason why such an excellent, indeed invaluable book was no longer known, may be that the author relied on it published his own expense and the company Nicolai had only taken such work on commission, which immediately resulted in an original stagnation for such a work in the book trade. But so that the fatherland knows what treasure is in preparation for it here, we put the content of the chapters here and ask the valuable daily papers, such as the morning paper and the companions, the anecdotes and stories that are as edifying as pleasant, no less the great incomparable maxims, which contains this work to be made generally known for the time being. "[...]" The bookstore that takes over the previously announced work in the publishing house or commission is requested to report such. A cheap price will facilitate the desirable distribution. ”(Goethe, quoted from diwwan.com: Buch des Kabus (found on March 2, 2012))

^ Diez, p. 727 ff.

literature

Heinrich Friedrich von Diez : Book of Kabus or teachings of the Persian king Kjekjawus for his son Ghilan chess. A work for all ages translated from Turkish-Persian-Arabic and explained through treatises and notes. Berlin, self-published, 1811. 867 p. (Digital copies: a , b )

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe : West-Eastern Divan. With the excerpts from the book of Kabus edited by Karl Simrock. Heilbronn, Henninger 1875.

Reuben Levy (ed. And transl. ): A Mirror for Princes: The Qabusname. (Kai Kā'ūs b.Iskandar b. Qābūs b. Washmgīr: The Nasīḥat-Nāma known as Qābūs-Nāma.) London, 1951

Iradj Khalifeh-Soltani: The image of the ideal ruler in the Islamic prince mirror literature, illustrated using the example of Qâbûs-Nâma. Tübingen 1971 (phil. Diss.)

The Qābusnāme: a monument to Persian wisdom. Transl. And expla. by Seifeddin Najmabadi in conjunction with Wolfgang Knauth. Wiesbaden, Reichert, 1988; ISBN 3-88226-442-X

Enfel Doğan: On Translations of Qabus-Nama During the Old Anatolian Turkish Period. In: The Journal of International Social Research, Volume 5, Issue 21, Spring 2012, pp. 76–86

[1] Other names are Andarz-nāma , Naṣiḥat-nāma and Pand-nāma .

[2] On the author, see JTP de Bruijn: "KAYKĀVUS Amir ʿOnṣor-al-Maʿāli" in Encyclopaedia Iranica ( online text ) - Edward Granville Browne provides a table of contents in Volume 2, pp. 276 ff., Of his four-volume Literary History of Persia ( Cambridge 1928) (see digitized version )

[3] The headings are (according to Diez): 1. How God can be recognized 2. Praise of the prophets 3. Praise to God 4. Use of the abundance of worship 5. Duties towards father and mother 6. How origins are enhanced through virtue 7. According to which rules one has to speak 8. The last teachings of Nuschirewan 9. The state of old age and youth 10. Decency and rules when eating 11. Behavior when drinking wine 12. Rules of the guests and the invitation of the guests 13. In what way joked and stone and chess must be played 14. The nature of lovers 15. The benefits and harm of cohabitation 18. The order in hunting 19. How to play ball game 20. How to approach the enemy 21. The means, the fortune increase 22. The advantages of keeping deposits and giving them back to their repositor. 24. Where to buy properties if you buy them 25. How to buy horses and recognize the characteristics of the best among them ss 26. How a man must take a wife when he gets married 27. The order in the upbringing of children 28. The advantages of making friends and choosing them 29. Not to be careless about enemies with attacks and schemes 30. That Meritorious of forgiveness and forgiveness 31. How to seek science 32. The merchant trade 33 The rules of doctors and how to live 34 The qualities of poets and poetry 36 The rules of musicians 37 The way of serving emperors 38. The state of Confidants and partners of the emperors 39. The rules of the chancellery offices 40. The order of the Wezirats 41. The rules of military leadership 42. The rules of the emperors 43. The rules of agriculture and agriculture 44. The virtues of virtue.

[4] “This book seemed so important to me that I devoted a lot of time to it and asked several friends to look at it ... The main reason why such an excellent, indeed invaluable book was no longer known, may be that the author relied on it published his own expense and the company Nicolai had only taken such work on commission, which immediately resulted in an original stagnation for such a work in the book trade. But so that the fatherland knows what treasure is in preparation for it here, we put the content of the chapters here and ask the valuable daily papers, such as the morning paper and the companions, the anecdotes and stories that are as edifying as pleasant, no less the great incomparable maxims, which contains this work to be made generally known for the time being. "[...]" The bookstore that takes over the previously announced work in the publishing house or commission is requested to report such. A cheap price will facilitate the desirable distribution. ”(Goethe, quoted from diwwan.com: Buch des Kabus (found on March 2, 2012))

[5] Diez, p. 727 ff.