Warner

Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice Library of Arabic Literature

rif. SB-9789376541775 — Timeless tales of loyalty and betrayal. Like Aesop's Fables Kalīlah and Dimnah is a collection designed not only for moral instruction but also for the entertainment of readers. The stories which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata were adapted augmented and translated into Arabic by the scholar and state official Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ in the second/eighth century. The stories are engaging entertaining and often funny from "The Man Who Found a Treasure But Could Not Keep It" to "The Raven Who Tried To Learn To Walk Like a Partridge" and "How the Wolf the Raven and the Jackal Destroyed the Camel." Kalīlah and Dimnah is a "mirror for princes" a book meant to inculcate virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception. Many of the animals who populate the book represent ministers counseling kings friends advising friends or wives admonishing husbands. Throughout Kalīlah and Dimnah offers insight into the moral lessons Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ wished to impart to rulers—and readers. Sanctum Books hardcover