Kalilah and Dimnah – Ibn al-Muqaffa’ (Paperback / Soft Cover)

Fables of Virtue and Vice

Timeless fables 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.

An English-only edition.

Author: Ibn al-Muqaffa’
Format: Paperback / Soft Cover
Pages: 300
Size: Not Specified
Weight: Not Specified