Kalila Wa Dimna — Page 13

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الَّتِي جُمِعَتْ مِنْ أَرْجَاءِ الْعَالَمِ لِهَذَا الْمَقْصِدِ، وَدَعَا الْأُدَبَاءَ فِي الشَّرْقِ وَالْغَرْبِ إِلَى إِمْدَادِهِ بِمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنْ نُصُوصٍ وَآرَاءٍ لِهَذَا الْعَمَلِ.

These were collected from across the globe for this purpose, and he invited writers from the East and West to contribute their texts and opinions to the project.

فَإِنْ كَانَ الْكِتَابُ لِهَذِهِ الْأَسْبَابِ جَدِيرًا بِعِنَايَةِ أُدَبَاءِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ قَمِينًا بِأَنْ يُطْبَعَ مُسْتَوْفِيًا حَقَّهُ مِنَ التَّصْحِيحِ وَالنَّقْدِ، فَهَلْ طُبِعَ الْكِتَابُ مَرَّةً عَلَى هَذِهِ الشَّاكِلَةِ؟

If the book is, for these reasons, worthy of the attention of Arabic scholars and deserves to be printed with proper care for correction and criticism, has it ever actually been published that way?

لَيْسَ فِي طَبَعَاتِ الْكِتَابِ الَّتِي ظَهَرَتْ فِي أُورُوبَّا وَالْبِلَادِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ وَبِلَادِ الشَّرْقِ الْإِسْلَامِيِّ طَبْعَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ جَدِيرَةٌ بِثِقَةِ الْقَارِئِ النَّاقِدِ، صَالِحَةٌ أَنْ يَعْتَمِدَ عَلَيْهَا مُؤَرِّخٌ لِهَذَا الْكِتَابِ أَوْ مُؤَرِّخٌ لِلْأَدَبِ الْعَرَبِيِّ، وَبُرْهَانُ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَى فِيمَا يَلِي:

None of the editions that have appeared in Europe, the Arab world, or the Islamic East are reliable enough for a critical reader, nor are they suitable for a historian of this book or of Arabic literature to rely upon. The evidence for this follows:

طُبِعَ الْكِتَابُ لِأَوَّلِ مَرَّةٍ فِي بَارِيسَ سَنَةَ ١٨١٦م طَبَعَهُ الْمُسْتَشْرِقُ الْكَبِيرُ سَلْفَسْتَر دِي سَاسِي.

The book was first printed in Paris in 1816 by the renowned orientalist Silvestre de Sacy.

وَيَتَبَيَّنُ مِنَ الْمُقَدِّمَةِ الَّتِي كَتَبَهَا النَّاشِرُ أَنَّهُ رَأَى كَثْرَةَ الِاخْتِلَافِ بَيْنَ النُّسَخِ الَّتِي وَجَدَهَا فِي بَارِيسَ؛ فَاخْتَارَ أَقْدَمَهَا فِي رَأْيِهِ، وَصَحَّحَهَا وَنَقَّحَهَا مِنْ نُسَخٍ أُخْرَى.

The publisher’s introduction makes it clear that he noticed significant discrepancies among the copies he found in Paris; he chose what he considered the oldest, then corrected and revised it using other versions.

وَكَانَتْ هَذِهِ النُّسْخَةُ الَّتِي اخْتَارَهَا فِي حَاجَةٍ إِلَى التَّكْمِيلِ وَالتَّصْحِيحِ وَالتَّنْقِيحِ، فِيهَا نَقْصٌ تَدَارَكَهُ بَعْضُ الْقُرَّاءِ بِخَطٍّ حَدِيثٍ، وَفِيهَا مَوَاضِعُ ذَهَبَ بِهَا الْبِلَى، وَكَلِمَاتٌ مُحِيَتْ فَوُضِعَتْ مَوْضِعَهَا أُخْرَى.

The copy he chose was in need of completion, correction, and revision. It had gaps that some readers had filled in with modern handwriting, as well as sections damaged by decay and words that had been erased and replaced.

فَالْكِتَابُ الَّذِي نَشَرَهُ دِي سَاسِي لَا يُقَدِّمُ لِلنَّاقِدِ نُسْخَةً وَاحِدَةً تَصْلُحُ لِلنَّقْدِ وَالْمُقَايَسَةِ، وَلَكِنْ نُسْخَةً مُلَفَّقَةً.

The book de Sacy published does not offer a critic a single, coherent text suitable for analysis and comparison, but rather a patchwork version.

وَلِهَذَا لَمْ يَثِقْ بِهَا الْمُسْتَشْرِقُونَ الَّذِينَ عُنُوا بِالْمَوْضُوعِ أَمْثَالَ فَلْكَنَر، وَجُوِيدِي، وَرَايْت، وَتَنْبِرْج، وَشَارَكَهُمُ الْأَبُ شَيْخُو فِي رَأْيِهِمْ.

For this reason, orientalists who studied the subject—such as Falconer, Guidi, Wright, and Zotenberg—did not trust it, an opinion shared by Father Cheikho.

يَقُولُ نَلْدِكَه: يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يُقَالَ إِنَّ اخْتِيَارَ أَيِّ مَخْطُوطٍ رَدِيءٍ لِلطَّبْعِ كَانَ أَجْدَى عَلَى النَّقْدِ.

Nöldeke remarked that it would have been more useful for critical purposes to simply print one of the poorer manuscripts.

وَقَدْ وَجَدَ نَلْدِكَه أَنَّ النُّسْخَةَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ أَقَلَّ النُّسَخِ حَظًّا مِنْ عِنَايَةِ دِي سَاسِي هِيَ أَقْرَبُ النُّصُوصِ إِلَى النُّسْخَةِ السُّرْيَانِيَّةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ.

Nöldeke found that the copy which received the least of de Sacy's attention was actually the text closest to the original Syriac version.

Vocabulary · المفردات (25 verbs · 61 nouns)

• جَمَعَ — to collect
• دَعَا — to invite
• طَبَعَ — to print
• ظَهَرَ — to appear
• اعْتَمَدَ — to rely
• تَبَيَّنَ — to become clear
• كَتَبَ — to write
• رَأَى — to see
• وَجَدَ — to find
• اخْتَارَ — to choose
• صَحَّحَ — to correct
• نَقَّحَ — to revise
• تَدَارَكَ — to remedy
• ذَهَبَ — to go
• مُحِيَ — to erase
• وَضَعَ — to place
• نَشَرَ — to publish
• قَدَّمَ — to present
• صَلُحَ — to suit
• وَثِقَ — to trust
• عُنِيَ — to concern oneself with
• شَارَكَ — to share
• قَالَ — to say
• أَمْكَنَ — to enable, to make possible
• أَجْدَى — to avail, to be of use
• مُقَدِّمَة — introduction
• عَالَم — world
• مَقْصِد — purpose
• أَدِيب — writer
• شَرْق — east
• غَرْب — west
• إِمْدَاد — supplying
• نَصّ — text
• رَأْي — opinion
• عَمَل — work
• طَبْعَة — edition
• كِتَاب — book
• سَبَب — reason
• جَدِير — worthy
• عِنَايَة — care
• عَرَبِيَّة — Arabic
• قَمِين — deserving
• مُسْتَوْف — complete
• حَقّ — right
• تَصْحِيح — correction
• نَقْد — criticism
• مَرَّة — time
• شَاكِلَة — manner
• بِلَاد — countries
• إِسْلَامِيّ — Islamic
• ثِقَة — trust
• قَارِئ — reader
• نَاقِد — critic
• صَالِح — fit
• مُؤَرِّخ — historian
• أَدَب — literature
• بُرْهَان — proof
• دَعْوَى — claim
• سَنَة — year
• مُسْتَشْرِق — orientalist
• كَبِير — great
• نَاشِر — publisher
• كَثْرَة — abundance
• اخْتِلَاف — difference
• نُسْخَة — copy
• قَدِيم — old
• حَاجَة — need
• تَكْمِيل — completion
• تَنْقِيح — revision
• نَقْص — deficiency
• خَطّ — handwriting
• حَدِيث — modern
• مَوْضِع — place
• بِلَى — decay
• كَلِمَة — word
• مُقَايَسَة — comparison
• مُلَفَّق — fabricated
• مَوْضُوع — subject
• مَثَل — example
• مَخْطُوط — manuscript
• رَدِيء — poor
• حَظّ — share
• قَرِيب — near
• سُرْيَانِيّ — Syriac
• وَاحِدَة — one (feminine)
• أَقْرَب — closer, nearest