Tāzīdan? Tāsīdan? Nāhīdan?
Document Type : pajoohesh
Author
10.22081/jap.2025.77127
Abstract
This article examines a difficult verse from the Shāhnāmeh, analyzing the factors contributing to its interpretive challenges. By prioritizing the readings found in the oldest extant manuscripts, the study investigates the causes of scribal errors and textual distortions introduced by copyists and editors of the Shāhnāmeh. The research demonstrates that the original form of the verse, contrary to the opinion of most modern editors and in accordance with the preference of Mostafa Jeyhooni
is: "Sar-e sarkashān andar āmad be-khwāb / Ze tāzīdan-e bādpāyān bar āb"
(From the swift yet smooth movement of the horses on the water, the warriors grew drowsy.)
The alternative readings tāsīdan and nāhīdan, proposed by some editors, are shown to be corrupted and erroneous. Furthermore, it is argued that, according to Jeyhooni’s analysis, the verse that follows this line—marginalized in the Moscow and Khāliqī-Muṭlaq editions—is in fact authentic and serves as one of the early examples of the concept of "imaginary play" (bāzī-yi khiyāl).
is: "Sar-e sarkashān andar āmad be-khwāb / Ze tāzīdan-e bādpāyān bar āb"
(From the swift yet smooth movement of the horses on the water, the warriors grew drowsy.)
The alternative readings tāsīdan and nāhīdan, proposed by some editors, are shown to be corrupted and erroneous. Furthermore, it is argued that, according to Jeyhooni’s analysis, the verse that follows this line—marginalized in the Moscow and Khāliqī-Muṭlaq editions—is in fact authentic and serves as one of the early examples of the concept of "imaginary play" (bāzī-yi khiyāl).
Keywords
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