Day 3. Tarǰuma-yi Tafsir-i Tabari. Part 1

This text is not only the earliest but also one of the most monumental pieces of Early Classical Persian prose—the Tafsir-i Tabari, written by the renowned intellectual of the 9th century, Muhammad b. Jarir Tabari, is one of the well-known commentaries of the Qur’an. Its translation into Persian was commissioned by Abu Salih Mansur I b. Nuh Samanid and was accomplished thanks to the efforts of a group of intellectuals of the time. Its simple yet elegant language will gradually allow the students to immerse themselves in the ECP's subtleties. Besides the readings, an overview of the phonetic evolution of Persian during the last millennium will be presented at the beginning of the class.

  1. Curriculum
  2. Learn Persian through Early Classical Persian Prose Syllabus
  3. Week 1. The Earliest Texts
  4. Day 3. Tarǰuma-yi Tafsir-i Tabari. Part 1  

Topic of the Day: From Classical to Modern Persian: The phonetic evolution of Persian.

One of the focal aspects of this course, besides studying the grammar and texts of the ECP prose, would also be mapping the historical evolution of this language and understanding how this evolution transformed the language over centuries. 

One of the most curious aspects of this evolution is the phonetic change that happened during the last millennium. Although this change is not quite visible from the script, as the latter does not fully reflect the pronunciation of the words, the early New Persian phonetics has been reconstructed by scholars who studied the language during the last couple of centuries. 

This discussion will examine the phonetic changes from the ECP until Modern Literary Persian. 

Text Editions: 

Habib Yaγmāyī, Tarǰome-ye Tafsir-e Tabari, dar 7 moǰallad, Entešārāt-e Tus, 1356 (čāp-e dovvom).
Ja’far Modarres Sādeqi, Tarǰome-ye Tafsir- Tabari (qesse-hā), Našr-e Markaz, 1398 (čāp-e šešom).

Although the main critical edition of the Tarǰuma-yi Tafsir-i Tabari is that of H. Yaghmayi, in seven volumes, we will mostly use the simplified edition of Sadeqi, which is more user-friendly. At times we will make references to the Yaghmayi’s edition.

Chapters (from Sādeqi’s edition): 

Tarǰumat-ul-Kitābi bi-l-fārsiyya 
Hadis-i Iblis
Yusif wa Zulaixa
Qissa-yi Šāristān wa Taxt-i Sulaymān
Qissa-yi Hārut wa Mārut 
Qissa-yi Xizr
Hadis-i Parviz
Hadis-i ristāxīz

Classroom activities: Checking the homework text; discussion questions related to the text of Muqaddama; reading the text of the Tarjuma; discussing the grammar and style of the text; Q&A.

Recommended readings: G. Lazard. La langue des plus anciens monuments de la prose persane. Paris, 1963. pp. 41-45.

Vocabulary:

مصحف

moshaf   

volume, book

نبشتن

nebeštan 

to write 

اسناد

esnād 

isnad, the provenance of an islamic religious story (hadith) 

دشخوار

došxār 

difficult

عبارت کردن

ebārat kardan

to interpret

روا بودن

ravā budan 

to be acceptable or permissable

ناحیت

nāhiyyat 

region, realm

اختیار کردن

extiyār kardan 

to select, choose

اقتصار کردن

eqtesār kardan

to abbreviate, to shorten

سبع

sob’ 

one seventh

کون

kawn 

creation

وحی

vahy

divine inspiration