Abstract

The  presentation will analyze the use of prosimetrum—i.e., the mixture of prose and verse—in the landmark sixth/twelfth century Persian translation of Kalīla and Dimna by Naṣr Allāh Munshī. This version of the book of fables was translated from the Arabic attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. ca. 139/757). Along with rendering the text into Persian, Naṣr Allāh made the work his own through a huge number of changes and additions. He authored a new preface, which argues for the importance of Kalīla and Dimna as a book of practical wisdom, especially within a framework of just Islamic rule. Naṣr Allāh also weaves into the text myriad quotes from the Qur’an and ḥadīth, lines of Arabic and Persian poetry, wisdom sayings, and more. One consequence of these additions is that Naṣr Allāh’s style becomes a kind of prosimetrum. (It is open to debate whether this constitutes “true prosimetrum,” since the text is still mostly in prose, punctuated by frequent snippets of poetry. But the terminological problem may be set aside for the purposes of this presentation.) Beers will provide an overview of Naṣr Allāh’s practice of incorporating poetry into Kalīla and Dimna, along with discussion of a few key questions, including the following: At what junctures in the text have poems typically been added, and for what purposes? How much of the poetry is taken from other sources, and how much seems to be original? How does Naṣr Allāh manage transitions between prose and verse, in particular when they occur mid-sentence? And what is the significance of the fact that much, if not most, of the poetry is in Arabic—helping to make this effectively a bilingual text?