ČAHĀR ZAHAGĀN IN MIDDLE PERSIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

One of the main features of Sasanian era was the philosophical movement through which Iranian thinkers became familiar with new ideas. Xusrow The First ordered some philosophical texts, such as Aristotle’s Book of Logic, to be translated from Greek into Pahlavi. They also introduced some texts from India and translated them from Sanskrit into Pahlavi. Through the process of translation, many Pahlavi philosophical terms were coined. They are scattered among the Pahlavi texts such as Dēnkard, Bundahišn, Wizīdagīhāī Zādsparam and so on. The aim of this paper then is to introduce one of the well-known terms called čahār zahagān or four elements. In addition to other meanings mentioned in the article the term čahār zahagān denotes to the four elements of soil, wind, water and fire by which the whole world is constructed. This idea was borrowed by Iranian translators presumably from Greek and Roman philosophers. During the Islamic period the term čahār zahagān has a more broad meaning. From their point of view the Greater World or gēhān ī wuzurg was comparable to the human body or gēhān ī kōdak