This volume continues and completes my edition and translation of the Persian section of al-MaqrÄ«zÄ«âs KitÄb al-Ḫabar Ê¿an al-baÅ¡ar, the first part of which (Volume V, Section 4: Persia and Its Kings, Part I) was published in 2018.
The second part of volume V, section 4 of al-MaqrÄ«zÄ«âs Ḫabar relates the history of the Sasanian dynasty of Persia. It depends heavily on al-ṬabarÄ«âs Taʾrīḫ, partly directly, but more importantly through Miskawayhâs TaǧÄrib, a work that is itself largely, in this section, based on al-ṬabarÄ«. Hence, I have been in the luxurious situation of building on the work of two outstanding predecessors, Theodor Nöldeke and C.E. Bosworth. Nöldeke published his German translation of this section of al-ṬabarÄ«âs Taʾrīḫ under the title Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden in 1879. The book is still eminently useful, and it is telling that it was considered important enough to be reprinted in 1973, almost a century after its first publication.
Bosworthâs learned English translation appeared in 1999, titled The SÄsÄnids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen, as the fifth volume of the Bibliotheca Persica translation of The History of al-ṬabarÄ«. Both translations are remarkably accurate and contain ample notes and commentaries, which are extremely helpful in understanding al-ṬabarÄ«. As especially Bosworthâs work is easily available, I have seen no reason to duplicate all his notes, partly already overlapping with those of Nöldeke.
Miskawayhâs work, on the contrary, has not, to my knowledge, been translated into any Western language, but several long excerpts of its Sasanian section, or of texts parallel to it and quoted by al-MaqrÄ«zÄ«, have been translated into French by Mario Grignaschi in his long article âQuelques spécimens de la littérature sassanide conservés dans les bibliothèques dâIstanbul,â Journal Asiatique 1966: 1â142. Grignaschiâs notes are extremely useful, although his translations are not always completely satisfactory.
The third major source of al-MaqrÄ«zÄ« for this volume, is Ḥamzah al-Iá¹£fahÄnÄ«âs Taʾrīḫ, which is now partially translated by Robert G. Hoyland in his The âHistory of the Kings of the Persiansâ in Three Arabic Chronicles. The Transmission of the Iranian Past from Late Antiquity to Early Islam (2018), which has also been helpful. J.M.E. Gottwaldtâs old Latin translation Hamzae Ispahanensis annalium libri X (1848) is still useful for other parts of Ḥamzahâs book, not included by Hoyland in his translation, but its Sasanian part is now superseded by Hoylandâs book.
In the Introduction, some short passages, such as the description of the manuscripts have been here reprinted from the first part of this section with few changes, to allow for independent use of this volume. The same goes for a small number of footnotes to the translation, e.g., those that identify characters already identified in the first volume.
As with the first part of this work, my warmest thanks go to Dr Frédéric Bauden, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Liège and the editor-in-chief of the series Bibliotheca Maqriziana, who invited me to edit this part of the Ḫabar, provided me with copies of the relevant parts of the manuscripts, and helped in preparing the final manuscript for print. He also kindly provided me with copies of some of his relevant articles, both published and unpublished. My dear colleague, Marwa Mouazen (Edinburgh), kindly went with me through some difficult passages and helped me to prepare the Arabic text for print.
Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila
Edinburgh, 31Â March 2022