Nāṣir Xusraw and his Rawšanā’ī-nāmа (“The Book of Enlightenment”) (beyts 456–590). Translation from Persian into Russian, comments and introduction

Abstract

This article contains a commentary translation of the final parts of the poem Rawshanā’i-nama (bayts 456–590) by the outstanding poet and philosopher of the 11th century, Isma’ili preacher Nasir Xusraw Kubadiyani. The previous parts of the poem were published at different times, the last two in the journal Orientalistica for 2020 and 2022. The translation is based on the Tehran edition of 2001. Combining all parts of the translation into a single text is a matter of the future, especially since over the years of work the translators’ vision of the text and understanding of its meaning in the history of Persian literature and philosophy has undergo definite changes. Nevertheless, the appearance of a complete translation — the first in Russian and still not available in Western languages — will expand the perception of the of Nasir Xusraw’s work and then may be useful not only to narrow specialists. The translation is provided with the possibly complete commentary on the text, but leaves outside its interpretation. The text is preceded by an introductory article concerning a discussion of some aspects of the implication of religious and philosophical views in poetic narrative aimed at “education of morals” and “improvement of the soul”.