ShahAli bin Abd al-Ali and his Persian Translation of Majalis al-Nafayes Tazkareh by Amir AliShir Nawayi

Introduction

Poets' Tazkarehs are one of the most important sources of literary history, which have been written since the 6^th century AH until now, and one of them is Majalis al-Nafayes, which was written by Amir AliShir Nawayi around the year 896 AH in Joghatai Turkish. This work is considered to be the third Tazkareh of poets, but it is the first Tazkareh of an era in which was written about 460 poets from the second half of the 9^th century and the first half of the 10^th century, especially in the Herat literary center of the Timurid period. Due to the importance it has had in the history of Persian literature and the history of Tazkareh-writing, Majalis al-Nafayes has been translated into Persian several times after its compilation, the fourth of which was done by ShahAli bin Abd al-Ali in Balkh.

Research Background

ست  دربار شاه شجاع، حاکم مالوه-
Charles Rieu was the first person to introduce ShahAli and his translation 130 years ago in half a page, and 50 years after that, Ali-Asghar Hikmat translated and quoted Rieu's content in the introduction to his publication of two translations of Majlis al-Nafayes (Latif-Nameh and Hasht-Behesht) and his information has gradually infiltrated the contents of corrections, history of literature, articles, dissertations and most of our contemporary books, directly or indirectly.
After searching in library and electronic sources, it was found that the contemporary research about Majlis al-Nafayes is mostly based on its two translations, namely Hasht-Behesht and Latif-Nameh, and so far there has been no independent or related research about a translation of ShahAli whose content is beyond the knowledge of Rieu and his followers.

Research Method

This is a library research, so its data is based on manuscripts and printed books.

Analysis

In his translation, the translator of Majalis al-Nafayes is stated to be ShahAli bin Abd al-Ali and ShahAli bin Banda Ali al-Kabali known as Shah-Beyg is said to be the author of Meyar al-Dorra; so it is almost certain that he is the translator of Amir's Tazkareh. He considered AliShir to be the same as the author of Meyar al-Dorra; this is what the authors of Tabaqat Akbari and Tavarikh have also mentioned. According to the epilogue of Meyar al-Dorra and the references of Heravi and Badauni, ShahBeyg was from Kabul, Afghanistan, and according to the preface of Meyar al-Dorra, he authored this work in Akbarabad, India, under the name of Sultan Shah Shuja', and at that time he was engaged in acquiring knowledge. Therefore, it seems that between the years 949-962 AH, he joined the court of Shah Shuja', the ruler of Malwa (the central state of India) from Kabul, and composed the Meyar al-Dorra in his name, but when the situation in Akbar Abad deteriorated in 968 AH, he went to serve Din Muhammad Khan, the ruler of Balkh, and translated Majalis al-Nafayes in his name. It seems that when Din-Muhammad was deposed from the rule of Balkh in 986 AH, ShahAli went back to Akbarabad there and joined the court of Jalal al-Din Akbar, the Gurkan king of India, because Heravi introduced him as one of Akbar Shah's officers, according to Badauni's writings. At least until 1003 AH, he helped him in suppressing the rioters and this is the last information we have about the end of ShahBeyg's life.
From ShahAli or ShahBeyg, two written works are left: 1- Meyar al-Dorra, which is an Arabic commentary on al-Dorra al-Fakhera by Abd al-Rahman Jami, also known as Vojudiya and Tawhidiya. 2- The translation of Majalis al-Nafayes, which is the fourth translation of Amir AliShir Nawayi's Tazkareh.
So far, two different dates have been mentioned for the translation of ShahAli, each of which is taken from a manuscript: 1- 1006 AD onwards 2- 983 A.H.
Of the two dates mentioned, the year 983 AH mentioned at the end of the Karachi version is correct and the approximate date 1006 AH is incorrect, because the ruler who ShahAli made his translation in his name is Din-Muhammad bin Pir Mohammad Khan Shibani who ruled between 968-986 AH. He was the ruler of Balkh and ShahAli decorated his translation with his praise three years before he was removed from the government, not Din-Muhammad bin Jani-Khan Shibani. who ruled a part of Khorasan between 1006-1011 AH.
ShahAli's translation is neither completely thematic nor without shortcomings, but it is a mixture of thematic and literal translation. In addition, ShahAli sometimes did not translate some sentences or even some stories. He has also translated many Turkish verses of Majalis al-Nafayes into Persian.
The two existing versions of ShahAli's translation have minor and major differences, some of which have entered the text of the versions due to the carelessness or possession of the scribes and are mostly limited to words or phrases, but others are different. Verbal and semantic changes are more than a few words and come from the translator's rewriting.
Two manuscripts of ShahAli's translation have been identified and introduced so far: the copy of the National Museum of Karachi in Pakistan, which was written by Muhammad Saleh bin Yusuf Haji Bukhari in the 11^th century AH, and the copy of the National Library of London, the date of writing and the name of the author are unknown, but it seems that it was written shortly after the Karachi version in the 11^th century, and contrary to that, it was not spared the errors and slips of the book.

Conclusion

ShahAli bin Abd al-Ali is the fourth translator of Majalis al-Nafayes by Amir AliShir Nawayi; he completed his translation in 983 AH. There are two manuscripts of this translation, one of which is preserved in the National Library of London, and although it has omissions at the end and the date of translation and writing is unknown, the translator's details are mentioned in the first pages. The second edition is kept in the library of the National Museum of Karachi, and although the end of it is intact and includes the date of authorship and writing, its initial pages are worn and lack the translator's information. This issue has caused some catalogers to mistakenly consider this version as another translation of Majalis al-Nafayes. Each of these two is a separate version of ShahAli's translation; they have significant differences, so that sometimes some sentences differ from each other, sometimes sentences or verses from one of the versions are deleted, and sometimes some stories have been completely omitted from one of the versions. In any case, ShahAli translated 453 of the 460 biographies of Majalis al-Nafayes in both texts and compared to the previous translations, Hasht-behesht and Latayefnameh, it contains more biographies than Amir AliShir's Tazkareh. ShahAli's translation method, contrary to his claim, is neither completely thematic nor without shortcomings, but it is a mixture of thematic and literal translation, and some stories are left either completely or partially untranslated. ShahAli has also translated many Turkish verses of Majalis al-Nafayes into Persian while the previous translators, Qazvini and Fakhri, did not pay attention to them in Hasht-behesht and Latayefnameh.

Acknowledgments

I feel it necessary to express my gratitude to three honorable people who did not spare any help in the preparation of the manuscripts of ShahAli's manuscripts: Mrs. Dr. Ursala Sims-Williams, Curator of Iranian Languages ​​at the British Library; Honorable Mr. Wajid Javad, President of Pakistan Urdu Development Association; Mrs. Dr. Fatemeh Hasan, Trustee of Pakistan Urdu Development Association.