Persian Wisdom in Arabic Garb (2 Vols.): ʿalī B. ʿubayda Al-Rayḥānī (D. 219/834) and His Jawāhir Al-Kilam ... Theology and Science. Texts and Studies) - Tapa dura

Awarded the World Prize for the Book of the Year in the field in of Iranian studies by the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2009. We should be grateful for all the information that has been put at our disposal about al-Rayhani and the literary context that he formed part of. Remke Kruk in Bibliotheca Orientalis LXVI 5-6

This volume introduces 'Ali b. 'Ubayda al-Rayhani (d. 219/834), one of the central figures in the transmission of classical Greek and Persian wisdom into Arabic. It offers an edition, translation, and evaluation of his book Jawahir al-kilam , one of the oldest collections of proverbial wisdom and moralia in Arabic, as well as other remaining pieces of his works. The first part of the book surveys the content of his more than sixty books and suggests that among his translations from Middle Persian into Arabic were the Sindbad-nama and Bilawhar wa-Budhasf. Moreover, he emerges as the author of the famous al-Adab al-saghir heretofore wrongly attributed to Ibn al-Muqaffa'. The second part contains the Arabic texts and translations as well as a rich documentation of their sources and their further transmission.