A Suggestion for the Reading of a Verseby Abu-Taieb Mus’abi

The number of the Persian verses which have been left from Abu-Taieb Mus’abi is very few. However, even these few remaining verses have been so distorted that it is really hard to understand them, and so their recording and explaining has turned into a matter of controversy. Abu al-Taieb Mus’abi’s main Persian poem is his ode which starts with“Jahānā hamānā fosusi wa bāzi / ke bar kas napāie wa bā kas nasāzi” (the world is really full of tricks, deceptions and games / it does not last for anyone and it does not get along with anyone) which is in Beyhaqi History. One of the verses of Mus’abi’s ode which requires contemplation is its second verse that depicts the world in this way: “Cho māh az nemūdan, cho khār az pasūdan / be gāh-e robūdan cho shāhin wa bāzi” (you are like a moon in appearance, but when you are touched, you are as sharp as spur/ and when it’s time to get something away, you are as fast as hawk and eagle). This is a famous recording of this verse, or to put it more correctly, is a recording which has become famous because of being in the most common correction of Beyhaqi History (done by the late Dr. Fayāz); however, this is not its only recording. There are other recordings which are in other editions of Beyhaqi History or in other books which in one way or another have taken it from Beyhaqi History. In this paper, the author is going to scrutinize alterations in this verse. Finally. Finally, he argues that the reading “cho mār az pasudan” (when you are touched, you sting like a snake) is more compatible with Mus’abi’s word than “cho khār az pasudan (when you are touched, you are as sharp as spur).