A few Comments on Narration Techniques in Tarjeme-ye Tafsir-e Tabari

To have a better analysis of the Persian literature, one needs to consider its remaining masterpieces. “Tarjeme-ye Tafsir-e Tabari”, as one of the eldest Persian literary works, has been widely studied. Yet, this collection of stories has rarely been investigated from a narratological perspective. To this end, it is discussed that this collection of stories has been formed in the literary and cultural context of the fourth century hijri, and is comparable to its contemporary masterpieces such as Shahname (The Story of Kings). Having explored the narration techniques in this work, we realized that Tarjeme-ye Tafsir-e Tabari follows a rule-based narration procedure which can be studied and detected. It depicts a persistent conflict between good and evil from creation of Adam to resurrection. This work involves Bani Israil prophets' stories and the beginning of Islam stories. In these stories, similar themes, motifs and characters repeatedly appear. The first narrative in this work is the story of the argument between Muhammad on one hand and Jews and infidels of Mecca on the other hand; which involves the basic elements of other stories of the book.