Scripture as Frame in Naṣr Allāh Munshī’s "Kalīla and Dimna"

Abstract

This is a study of the narrative framing structure found in the Persian translation of Kalīla and Dimna written by Naṣr Allāh Munshī in the sixth/twelfth century. Kalīla and Dimna is famous partly for its embedded narratives—i.e., the phenomenon whereby characters within the book are the ones who tell the stories. This system of nested narrative frames gains a new dimension in the rendition of Naṣr Allāh, whose project involves (inter alia) presenting Kalīla and Dimna as a book of practical wisdom in an explicitly Islamic context. Naṣr Allāh has added a substantial new preface, which argues for the importance of Kalīla and Dimna in instructing people—especially rulers—in the values of justice and sound governance. He links these ideas to Islamic ethics by quoting extensively from Qur’ānic verses and ḥadīth. But this is not only a feature of the preface: the body chapters of the book, the fables themselves, are also enriched with religiously inflected arguments and scriptural quotes (not to mention lines of poetry). The style is reminiscent of that of Arabic adab works—with which Naṣr Allāh was obviously familiar. While there are several fascinating aspects of Naṣr Allāh’s version of Kalīla and Dimna, the goal of this article is to shed light on the interventions that have been made to the framing structure of the stories. Key words: Kalīla and Dimna, Persian literature, translation, Qur’ān, ḥadīth