Kalila and Dimna
Kalila and Dimna

Author: Nasrullah Munshi

Publisher: Hackett Publishing

Published: 2019-08-30

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1624668100

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"This masterful translation of one of the most popular books of world literature makes available to an English readership the animal tales known collectively as Kalila and Dimna. Named after the two jackals of Pancatantra fame, this collection of stories is based on a 12th-century Persian translation of an 8th-century original Arabic rendition by Ibn al-Muqaffa‘. Set within a frame narrative of counsels given to the Raja of India by his Brahmin minister, the engaging tales about cats and mice, storks and crabs, tortoises and geese, owls and crows, and princes and ascetics, function as cautionary illustrations of human predicaments and all-too-human vices and virtues. Far from being a collection of children’s fables, Kalila and Dimna is a Machiavellian mirror for princes containing advice on how to preserve oneself from one’s enemies and get ahead at court and in life. The dialogues that constitute the bulk of the narrative harbor a dramatic immediacy, exerting a powerful effect even on a modern-day reader." —Maria Subtelny, University of Toronto

Kalīlah and Dimnah
Kalīlah and Dimnah

Author: Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2023-04-04

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1479825786

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Timeless fables of loyalty and betrayal Like Aesop’s Fables, Kalīlah and Dimnah is a collection designed not only for moral instruction, but also for the entertainment of readers. The stories, which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata, were adapted, augmented, and translated into Arabic by the scholar and state official Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ in the second/eighth century. The stories are engaging, entertaining, and often funny, from “The Man Who Found a Treasure But Could Not Keep It,” to “The Raven Who Tried To Learn To Walk Like a Partridge” and “How the Wolf, the Raven, and the Jackal Destroyed the Camel.” Kalīlah and Dimnah is a “mirror for princes,” a book meant to inculcate virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception. Many of the animals who populate the book represent ministers counseling kings, friends advising friends, or wives admonishing husbands. Throughout, Kalīlah and Dimnah offers insight into the moral lessons Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ wished to impart to rulers—and readers. An English-only edition.