'A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English; with a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations' [‎17v] (39/1826)

XV111
DISSERTATION.
language of Greece was early cultivated in tlie
East: the connection of the Persians and Arabians
with the successors of Alexander in Syria and
Egypt, was long and intimate. Before the era of
Muhammad, it was considered as a branch of polite,
and even of mercantile education. Greek slaves
were common in Arabia; the receipts and dis
bursements of the treasury of the Caliphs were
written in that tongue for several generations after
the Prophet’s death ; and the coins of the Caliphat
were invariably struck with Greek inscriptions, till
the reign of Abdu’l malik in 695. Many of the
Muhammadan princes gave also great encourage
ment to translations from the Greeks; particularly
of the prose-writers. That the Grecian histories
must have consequently been known, especially
to their learned subjects, cannot, I think, with
reason, be called in question. Shall we suppose,
then, that Oriental annalists would not have made
great use of those writers, had their narratives
been in the least degree consistent with the his
tories and traditions which the Persians themselves
considered as authentic? That all Persian books
were not destroyed by the Arabians, is certain.
Some, which concerned not the religion of the
Magi, fell into the hands of those who admired and
preserved them. The Zafar-namah, a dialogue on
government and morality between Nushirvan the
Just, King of Persia, and his vizier Buzur, has been
already mentioned. In the preface to a copy of
Firdawsfs Shah-ncimah we are informed, that a
book of history was discovered, during the general
havoc, by Saad, one of the Muhammadan generals,
and carefully preserved by him, as containing
nothing repugnant to the tenets of the Kur’an; and
and M. D’Herbelot observes, that it was from a
collection of ancient Persian historians, in the older
dialect, that FirdawsI drew materials for his im
mortal work. The kings and great men of the
East, it may also be observed, have long rivalled
one another in nothing more than in the excellence
of their libraries. With incredible attention and
expense, they stored them with every valuable
manuscript they could possibly procure; and what
ever unrelenting severity a vanquished prince
might, by Eastern custom, experience from his
more fortunate competitor, his books appear ever
to have been an object of uncommon care . 38
Exclusive of such Persian authors as escaped
the Arabian proscription, with other records, of
which our imperfect knowledge of their language,
and slender intercourse with their country, has
hitherto deprived us of any positive intelligence,
one ground of presumptive information ought not
to be wholly disregarded ; I mean tradition. What
are the relations of ancient Egypt ? What are the
early annals of Babylonia, of Greece, of Rome ?
Except the sacred writings, what, in a word, is
every species of history a little way beyond 2000
years? Mere tradition! and much of it of the
most doubtful and improbable complexion : the
traditions of Pagan priests, whose importance
rested on the invention and propagation of error.
If any dependence then is placed on those Western
tales, in the absence of more convincing evi
dence, candour ought to allow a proportionable
degree of weight to those of the East. In all
countries where any difficulty, from whatever
cause, has been found in the registering of public
events, tradition bas ever been observed to flourish
with superior strength ; and, through the medium
of marvellous embellishment, presents us often with
the great lines of the achievements of former times.
Where the written memorials of a people are few,
and where fewer still can read them, he who re
hearses a rude poem, or a romantic tale, is looked
up to with respect. Whatever exalts men above
their peers will ever be cultivated with care ; and
sons will often endeavour to excel in w hat had rais
ed their fathers to distinction. The prevalence of
tradition, in the darker ages of Europe, is unques
tioned. The bards, the scalds, and the minstrels,
were caressed by the rudest warriors of those bar
barian times. Their older compositions are gene
rally considered as the real actions of ancient
chiefs: fiction prevailed not so much till later
ages: it was the offspring of refinement; and re
finement led the way to the downfall of oral re-