A story about the Daughter of Ka‘b from the Masnavi Ilahi-nameh by the Sufi Persian poet Farid ad-Din ‘Attar
Abstract
Ka‘b’s daughter Rābi‘a is briefly mentioned in the poetical anthology Lubāb al-awbāb by ‘Aufi as a brilliant poet. A subject of the majority of her poems was love and šāhid-bāzī, i.e. gazing at the beauty of youths, which brings the spectator to internal contemplation of the beauty of the Creator. ‘Attar, a Persian Sufi poet (12–13 cent.), dedicated to the love and death of Rābi‘a the longest story in his Masnavis. So far it has not been ascertained whether it was based upon a certain source, which has not survived until the present day, or whether it was a development of the account by ‘Aufi. The first part of the article contains an analysis of the story about daughter of Ka‘b in the Ilahi-nameh, its place within the structure of the poem as well as discusses its possible historical background. Then a line-by-line translation in Russian is provided, together with an extensive historical and philological commentary.
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
About the Author
L. G. Lahuti
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Layla Q. Lakhuti, Research Fellow
Lecturer at the Institute of Linguistics (Russian State University of Humanities)
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For citation:
Lahuti L.G. A story about the Daughter of Ka‘b from the Masnavi Ilahi-nameh by the Sufi Persian poet Farid ad-Din ‘Attar. Orientalistica. 2020;3(1):207-246. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2020-3-1-207-246
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