Document Type : Original Article
Abstract
More than a thousand years have passed since Rudaki, the great Persian poet, rendered Kalila and Dimna into verse during the Samanid era. Unfortunately, only a small number of scattered verses from this invaluable work have survived. The remnants of this poetic adaptation exist as dispersed verses recorded in various literary and historical texts, as well as poetic lexicons. Based on this limited corpus of surviving verses, alongside weak contextual clues and uncertain hypotheses, some scholars—and before them, an Orientalist—have suggested that Rudaki versified only a portion of Kalila and Dimna.
The present study seeks to critically examine this claim and, by drawing on available sources and evidence, argue that Rudaki in fact rendered the entire Kalila and Dimna into verse. Furthermore, this study highlights the high regard in which Rudaki was held for this remarkable achievement in his time, as well as the widespread fame he attained throughout the Persian-speaking world of that era due to his poetic rendition of this esteemed text.
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