Yazdagird III flees to the mill in Merv (CBL Per 254

''Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ fī sīrat al-anbiyāʾ w-al-mulūk w-al-khulafāʾ'' (, ‘The Gardens of purity in the biography of the prophets and kings and caliphs’) or Rawdatu 's-safa is a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

-language history of the origins of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, early Islamic civilisation, and Persian history by Mīr-Kh^vānd.Imamate
The text was originally completed in seven volumes in 1497 AD; the eighth volume is a geographical index.Salaam Knowledge
/ref> The work is very scholarly, Mīr-Kh^vānd used nineteen major Arabic histories and twenty-two major Persian ones as well as others which he occasionally quotes.Elliot, ''History'', 129 His work was the basis for many subsequent histories including the works of Hajjī Khalfah.

Style

Mīr-Kh^vānd made little attempt at a critical examination of historical traditions, and wrote in a flowery and often bombastic style. It comprises seven large volumes and a geographical appendix; but the seventh volume, the history of the sultan Ḥosayn, together with a short account of some later events down to 1523, cannot have been written by Mīr-Khv^vānd himself, who died in 1498. He may have compiled the preface, but it was his grandson, the historian Kh^vānd-Amīr (1475–1534), who continued the main portion of this volume and to whom also a part of the appendix must be ascribed.

Manuscripts, editions and translations

There are various different Persian manuscripts in Iran, Vienna, Paris, and London. A Persian edition was published in Paris in 1843 as ''Histoire des Samanides par Mirkhond''. It was published fully in Persian in 1843 (Paris) and lithographed in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(1848 or 1852). The standard edition used in scholarship is the Persian edition ''Tarikh i Rawzat al-Safa'' (7 vols) by Abbad Parviz (Tehran, 1959).

Translations

Owing to its popularity, the ''Rawżat aṣ-ṣafāʾ'' has undergone several editions and translations. Around 1596,

Pedro Teixeira Pedro Teixeira (b.1570-1585 - d.4 July 1641), occasionally referred to as the Conqueror of the Amazon, was a Portugal, Portuguese Exploration, explorer and military officer, who became, in 1637, the first European to travel up and down the entire ...

prepared a Spanish translation of the ''Rawżat aṣ-ṣafā̄ʾ''. The book was partially translated into English in 1715, the

Tahirid The Tahirid dynasty ( fa, طاهریان, Tâheriyân, ) was a culturally Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin, that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in ...

and

Saffarid The Saffarid dynasty ( fa, صفاریان, safaryan) was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persians, ...

portions (of chapter 2.3-4) into Latin in 1782, and the Sassanid portion (of chapter 1.2) into French in 1793. A section was translated as ''Mirchondi Historia Seldschukidarum'' (1838) by Johann August Vullers. From 1892 to 1893, a translation of the first book (up to the Rashidun caliphs) into English was prepared by the Orientalist Edward Rehatsek and edited by

Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot (21 May 1833 – 25 May 1901) was a notable British Orientalist and translator. Biography Arbuthnot's early career was spent as a civil servant in India; his last post was as Collector for the Bombay government. ...

for the Royal Asiatic Society, in two parts. The ''Vie de Mahomet d'après la tradition'' by E. Lamairesse and Gaston Dujarric was translated from the English (1897).

Mentions of Jesus

Mir Khvand makes mention of Jesus from the Quran. Mir Khvand records a number of miracles related to Jesus, including those mentioned in the Koran, such as Jesus speaking from the cradle, healing lepers, and raising the dead. The text in Edward Rehatsek's translation of the Garden of Purity contains a version of the Abgar legend, regarding the conversion of King Abgar of

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

(called Nassibin or Nasibain in the Persian text) before the crucifixion: Ghulam Ahmad (Urdu 1899, English 1978) and later publications of the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

such as

Review of Religions The ''Review of Religions'' is an English-language comparative religious magazine published monthly by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Regularly in print since 1902, it is one of the longest running Islamic periodicals in English. It has been de ...

give a paraphrase of the Abgar story from Mir Kvand's ''Rawżat aṣ-ṣafā̄ʾ'', also apparently placing the story of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

’s travels to Syria during his ministry and before the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

, though later Ahmadi writers infer the events are after the crucifixion. Ahmad considered that "If the report in the Rauzat-us-Safaa is correct, it appears that, by travelling to Nasibain, Jesus intended to go to Afghanistan through Persia, and to invite to the Truth the lost tribes of Jews who had come to be known as Afghans."Almadiyya Muslim Community, ''Review of Religions''
/ref>

Editions

*English (re-print) via Zavia Books, with translation by Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Jilani Hashimi (2005). *English in 1832 – “no oriental work that stood higher in public estimation than this”. *

Nawal Kishore Press The Nawal Kishore Press (also spelled Newal Kishore Press) was a publishing house founded by Munshi Nawal Kishore in Lucknow, British India, in 1858. It grew rapidly between 1865 and 1872 from its modest beginnings as a small printing press, ado ...

, Lucknow, (n.d.) *Arabic (1988) – روضة الصفا في سيرة الأنبياء والملوك والخلفاء - محمد بن خاوندشاه - الدار المصرية للكتاب؛ المحقق السباعس محمد السباعي, أحمد عبد القادر الشاذلي

Style

Manuscripts, editions and translations

Translations

Mentions of Jesus

Editions

Notes

Work online

See also