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Mashrabaمشربة

Works

Every work of the authors in the library’s orbit, in the reader or not: who wrote it, when, how it survives, where it can be read, and how it connects to other works. 82 so far. Where a field has not been checked against its source, it says so.
Checked on 2026-10-31
Table and recordsStreams
TraditionAll (14)The Quran (0)Ibn ʿArabī (0)Sufism (4)Philosophy (2)Ismaili thought (0)Greek sources (0)Further afield (8)Arabic grammar (0)Other (0)
GenreAll (8)Scripture and exegesis (0)Ḥadīth and the Prophet's life (0)Law (0)Creed and kalām (0)Metaphysics and cosmology (0)Sciences of letters and names (0)Counsel and governance (8)The path (0)Lives and lineages (0)Prayer and litany (0)Lyric (0)Language and grammar (0)Other, or not yet classed (0)
FormAll (8)Prose (7)Verse (0)Prose with verse (1)Diagrams (0)
LanguageAll (43)Arabic (16)Persian (8)Greek (2)Syriac (0)Ottoman Turkish (3)Chinese (0)Latin (8)Hebrew (1)Other (5)
PeriodAll (8)Archaic and classical Greek (0)Hellenistic (0)Roman imperial (0)Late antique (1)2nd century AH (0)3rd century AH (0)4th century AH (0)5th century AH (2)6th century AH (3)7th century AH (1)8th century AH (0)9th century AH (1)10th century AH (0)11th century AH (0)13th century AH (0)
In the readerAll (8)In the reader (0)Planned (0)Listed only (8)

8 of 82 works.

Works, sortable by column
Title ▼AuthorGenrePeriodLanguageStatus
The Book of Government or Rules for Kingsسیاست‌نامه / سیر الملوکNiẓām al-MulkCounsel and governance5th century AHPersianListed only
Mirror for Princes: The Qābūs NāmaقابوسنامهKaykāʾūs b. IskandarCounsel and governance5th century AHPersianListed only
Counsel for Kings (Book of Counsel for Kings)نصیحة الملوکal-GhazālīCounsel and governance6th century AHPersianListed only
Letter of Tansarنامه تنسرTansar (attributed)Counsel and governanceLate antiquePersianListed only
Persian Kalīla and Dimnaکلیله و دمنه (Naṣrallāh Munshī)Naṣrallāh MunshīCounsel and governance6th century AHPersianListed only
Rose Garden; Orchardگلستان؛ بوستانSaʿdī of ShirazCounsel and governance7th century AHPersianListed only
Four Discoursesچهار مقالهNiẓāmī ʿArūḍīCounsel and governance6th century AHPersianListed only
Muhsinean Ethicsاخلاق محسنیḤusayn Vāʿiẓ KāshifīCounsel and governance9th century AHPersianListed only

Records

The Book of Government or Rules for Kings

سیاست‌نامه / سیر الملوک

Siyāsatnāma / Siyar al-mulūk

Niẓām al-Mulk (d. 485/1092)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 5th century AH · Listed only

50 chapters on administration: spies, judges, tax, army, religion;

Attribution
authentic checked in Hasan Hüseyin Adalıoğlu, “Siyâsetnâme”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (2009)
Date
late 5th/11th c., written at Malikshāh's request (TDV: fifty-one chapters; draft: c. 1091–92) (basis: date of composition) probable
Editions
  • Hubert Darke (Tehran 1347 sh; 2nd rev. 1962); Schefer (Paris 1891) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • Darke (London 1960; 2nd ed. 1978); Schefer French (1891-93) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Mirror for Princes: The Qābūs Nāma

قابوسنامه

Qābūsnāma

Kaykāʾūs b. Iskandar (fl. 475/1082)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 5th century AH · Listed only

44 chapters of counsel from father to son: conduct with friends, kings, physicians, farmers, artisans;

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
475/1082-83, Gurgān (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • G.-H. Yūsufī (Tehran 1345 sh/1966); R. Levy (Gibb Memorial NS 18, London 1951) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • Reuben Levy, A Mirror for Princes (London: Cresset 1951) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Counsel for Kings (Book of Counsel for Kings)

نصیحة الملوک

Naṣīḥat al-mulūk

al-Ghazālī (450–505/1058–1111)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 6th century AH · Listed only

Faith as foundation of kingship;

Attribution
disputed: The draft says the first half may be his and the second part from another hand. TDV treats it as al-Ghazālī's, written in Baghdad under the Seljuks. The scope doc names Patricia Crone, 'Did al-Ghazālī write a mirror for princes?', JSAI 10 (1987): title and year 1987 seen in OpenAlex; the argument has not been read. probable
Date
c. 1105-09, Tus / Baghdad (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • Jalāl al-Dīn Humāʾī (Tehran 1315 sh/1937) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • F. R. C. Bagley, Ghazali's Book of Counsel for Kings (OUP 1964) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Letter of Tansar

نامه تنسر

Nāma-yi Tansar

Tansar (attributed) (Sasanian setting)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · Late antique · Listed only

Defends Ardashīr's centralising reform;

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
Sasanian setting; Persian recension via Ibn Isfandiyār (c. 1210), Iran (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • Minovi (Tehran 1932); Darmesteter (JA 1894) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • Mary Boyce, The Letter of Tansar (Rome 1968) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Persian Kalīla and Dimna

کلیله و دمنه (Naṣrallāh Munshī)

Kalīla va Dimna

Naṣrallāh Munshī (fl. c. 538/1144)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 6th century AH · Listed only

Persian rendering of Kalīla with embellishments;

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
c. 1144, Ghazna (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • Mojtabā Mīnuvī (Tehran 1343 sh) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Rose Garden; Orchard

گلستان؛ بوستان

Gulistān; Būstān

Saʿdī of Shiraz (d. c. 691/1292)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 7th century AH · Listed only

Gulistān book 1 is 'On the conduct of kings': tales of kings, viziers and dervishes;

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
1257-58, Shiraz (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • Yūsufī (Tehran 1368 sh) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • Eastwick (1852, free); Wickens (1974) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Four Discourses

چهار مقاله

Chahār maqāla

Niẓāmī ʿArūḍī (fl. c. 551/1156)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 6th century AH · Listed only

Discusses the secretary, poet, astrologer and physician: those needed by the king.

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
c. 1156, Samarkand/Herat (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • E. G. Browne (London 1910, text) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • E. G. Browne (1899; rev. 1921) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works

Muhsinean Ethics

اخلاق محسنی

Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī

Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī (d. 910/1504–05)

Further afield · Counsel and governance · Persian · 9th century AH · Listed only

A popular Timurid mirror in Persian with simplified Ṭūsī/Dawānī schemes and stories.

Attribution
authentic not yet checked
Date
c. 1494-1500, Herat (basis: date of composition) not yet checked
Editions
  • Hertford 1850 (lithograph) · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Translations
  • Henry Keene, Akhlāq-i Muḥsinī (Hertford 1850) · en · cite only (unchecked) not yet checked
Not in the reader yet

Connected works