Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Majmaʿ al-Nafāʾis: Bayāz-Tadhkira or a Scholarly-Critical Tadhkira? A Typological and Codicological Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Elham Zādafshār 1
Saeed Shafiʿiyun 2
Mohsen Mohammadi Feshārki 3
1 PhD Candidate in Persian Language and Literature, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran (Corresponding Author)
3 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
10.22034/nf.2025.535704.1429
Abstract
Majmaʿ al-Nafāʾis is one of the most important works by Sirāj al-Dīn ʿAlī Khān Ārezū. The author’s precision, critical temperament, and deep mastery of Persian literature and rhetorical styles, along with his access to primary biographical and literary sources—whether through direct acquaintance with the subjects of his entries or their associates, or through his direct use of their dīvāns and writings—together with his intelligent reliance on authentic first-hand texts and his stylistically and critically informed evaluations of others’ judgments, have placed this work among the foremost scholarly and critical tadhkiras of Persian literature.
Nevertheless, due to its preliminary form as a bayāz (notebook) and its inclusion of lengthy excerpts from rare dīvāns, as well as the author’s own admission of his initial intent, some scholars have denied its classification as a tadhkira, reducing it instead to the level of a bayāz or jang (miscellany). Yet, whether or not it is deemed essential for contemporary studies in literary criticism and stylistics, it undoubtedly serves as a rich source of information for historical inquiries into these fields. Unfortunately, despite the existence of numerous manuscripts in libraries across the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere, no reliable critical edition of this work has yet been produced. The only existing printed version—an inconsistent and unreliable edition prepared decades ago by a group of Pakistani literature scholars—has never been properly introduced to or evaluated by the broader community of researchers in this area.
Accordingly, the present paper undertakes a typological study of the work to establish its tadhkira nature and introduces its extant manuscripts, thereby demonstrating the necessity of its critical edition.
Keywords
Tadhkira
Majmaʿ al-Nafāʾis
Khān Ārezū
Critical Edition
Bayāz

Subjects

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Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 24, Issue 3 - Serial Number 97
Nameh Farhangestan (Subcontinent)
July and August 2025
Pages 5-35

  • Receive Date 22 April 2023
  • Revise Date 05 May 2023
  • Accept Date 28 January 2025