Comments on Nuzhat al-Majālis

Nuzhat al-Majālis by Jamāl Khalīl Shirvānī is one of the important sources of Persian quatrain history, containing 4139 quatrains by 300 poets from the fifth century to the early seventh century AH. The only manuscript of the book, written by Ismāil ibn Esfandiar Abhari in 731 AH, is preserved under the number 1667 in Ali Amiri Jarollah's collection in Istanbul. Dr. Mohammad Amin Riyahi edited the book based on this manuscript and published it in 1366 AH. Editing Nuzhat al-Majālis was one of the unique scholarly achievements of this great researcher. The introduction, indexes of the book, comments, and explanations of the quatrains are very useful and comprehensive. Unfortunately, the single manuscript of Nuzhat al-Majālis has some flaws, which have been transmitted to the printed text whether intentionally or unintentionally. With the discovery of two important manuscripts related to Nuzhat al-Majālis, a new opportunity for criticism, examination, and re-editing of Nuzhat al-Majālis has emerged: the first is Khulāṣa al-Ash'ār fi al-Rubā'iyāt by Abu al-Majd Tabrīzī, compiled and written in 721 AH, and the second is Safīneh Rubā'iyāt (the collection of quatrains) of the Istanbul University Library, considered an incomplete version of Nuzhat al-Majālis. These two sources are instrumental in correcting scribal errors and reconciling the titles of poets in Nuzhat al-Majālis. In this article, suggestions for correcting Nuzhat al-Majālis based on these two sources and other evidence and clues are presented.