Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice

Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ

Published by New York University Press 2022

Kalīlah and Dimnah

Fables of Virtue and Vice

Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ
Edited by: Michael Fishbein
Translated by: Michael Fishbein and James E. Montgomery

Volume 76 in the series Library of Arabic Literature

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479806560.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Timeless fables of loyalty and betrayal

Like Aesop’s Fables, Kalīlah and Dimnah is a collection designed not only for moral instruction, but also for the entertainment of readers. The stories, which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata, were adapted, augmented, and translated into Arabic by the scholar and state official Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ in the second/eighth century. The stories are engaging, entertaining, and often funny, from “The Man Who Found a Treasure But Could Not Keep It,” to “The Raven Who Tried To Learn To Walk Like a Partridge” and “How the Wolf, the Raven, and the Jackal Destroyed the Camel.”

Kalīlah and Dimnah is a “mirror for princes,” a book meant to inculcate virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception. Many of the animals who populate the book represent ministers counseling kings, friends advising friends, or wives admonishing husbands. Throughout, Kalīlah and Dimnah offers insight into the moral lessons Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ believed were important for rulers—and readers.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Author / Editor information

al-Muqaffaʿ Ibn :

Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. 139/757) was a Persian translator, author, thinker, and state official who wrote important treatises on rulership in Arabic.Fishbein Michael :

Michael Fishbein is Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA.Fishbein Michael :

Michael Fishbein is Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA.Montgomery James E. :

James E. Montgomery is Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity Hall. His latest publications are Fate the Hunter: Early Arabic Hunting Poems, and Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice, with Michael Fishbein.Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (Author)
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. 139/757) was a Persian translator, author, thinker, and state official who wrote important treatises on rulership in Arabic.

Michael Fishbein (Editor, Translator)
Michael Fishbein is Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA.

James E. Montgomery (Translator)
James E. Montgomery is Sir Thomas Adams’s Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity Hall. His latest publications are Fate the Hunter: Early Arabic Hunting Poems, and Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice, with Michael Fishbein.

Reviews

[This translation] should immediately become the English translation of choice for this work.

[A] delightful new translation of a major text of classical Arabic literature.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Letter from the General Editor Publicly Available Download PDF	iii
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Map: Principal Translations of the Arabic Kalīlah wa-Dimnah Publicly Available Download PDF	xxxii
Note on the Text Publicly Available Download PDF	xxxiii
Notes to the Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xxxvii
How Anūsharwān Sent Barzawayh to India to Transcribe Kalīlah and Dimnah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
The Book of Kalīlah and Dimnah7 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
The Chapter of Barzawayh the Physician Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
The Lion and the Ox Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
The Investigation of Dimnah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
The Ring Dove Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
The Crows and the Owls Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
The Turtle and the Monkey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
The Holy Man and the Mongoose Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
The Cat and the Rat Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
The King and the Bird Finzah Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
The Lion and the Jackal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
King Haylār and His Minister Baylār Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	325
The Mendicant and the Goldsmith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	373
The King’s Son and His Companions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	381
The Horseman, the Lioness, and the Jackal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	391
The Ascetic and His Guest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	397
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	408
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	410
Further Reading Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415
Index of Proper Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	423
About the Typefaces Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	424
Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	425
About the Editor–Translators Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	430

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: January 11, 2022
ISBN: 9781479806560