New NaqqaliThe Prelude
Chapters
- A0.1 · Exordium15 couplets · 15 notes
- A0.2 · In Praise of Wisdom21 couplets · 6 notes
- A0.3 · The Making of the World25 couplets · 7 notes
- A0.4 · The Nature of Man17 couplets · 5 notes
- A0.5 · The Nature of the Sun8 couplets · 3 notes
- A0.6 · The Nature of the Moon8 couplets · 3 notes
- A0.7 · Praise to the Prophet and His Companions32 couplets · 9 notes
- A0.8 · Compiling the Shahnameh19 couplets · 4 notes
- A0.9 · The Poet Dakiki10 couplets · 4 notes
- A0.10 · The Inception of This Book16 couplets · 4 notes
- A0.11 · Praise for Abu Mansur, Son of Mohammad18 couplets · 5 notes
- A0.12 · Praise for Sultan Mahmud48 couplets · 10 notes
About this commentary
A translation and its textual record
237 English couplets, unchanged; 75 commentary entries across twelve chapters. Select a chapter, then a couplet number to open its analysis. The paired text is repeated inside each note.
Read the comparison method and scope
F&R is an English verse translation; Moscow, Mohl and Khaleghi are edited Persian texts; Ganjoor is a digital presentation. These are five comparison texts, not five independent manuscript witnesses. Agreement between Ganjoor and Moscow does not constitute two independent votes.
Alignment follows sense and sequence. English expansion, compression and source-only material are displayed explicitly. Ganjoor provides the Persian reference except where a row names another source. This is an alignment aid, not a newly established composite Persian edition.
Textual evidence identifies the source record; interpretation evaluates meaning, rhetoric and poetic form. Rhyme, cadence and amplification receive their proper weight. The commentary explains defensible poetic decisions and also identifies the semantic distinctions they may alter.
References distinguish printed pages from PDF positions, and main text from brackets or apparatus. A chapter-page reference locates a passage; it does not imply word-for-word agreement. The complete bibliographical and coverage record appears below.
Khaleghi’s explanatory notes were consulted for selected Exordium and other Prologue questions, with attributed references where used. The explanatory volume has not been adopted as the sole interpretation of the poem.
Edition status. The commentary and English-text checks are complete within the stated coverage. One source lacuna remains: Mohl printed pp 10–11 are absent from the consulted scan. The three substantive English interpretations are now explicitly assessed in their notes. Read the editorial record.
Sources, coverage and conclusions
Prologue commentary · editorial completion pass · 6 November 2026. The record distinguishes completed editorial work from source-access and publication questions.
Bibliography and exact editions
| Text | Edition and consulted copy |
|---|---|
| F&R English | Farzad and Rhonda Dibachi, Shahnameh, Prologue A0.1–A0.12, New Naqqali, live-text capture used for this project. 237 couplets. All 474 English lines are preserved exactly from the review baseline. The chapter titles are editorial headings. Consult source ↗ |
| Moscow | Ferdowsi, Shahnameh: Critical Text, vol. I, under the editorship of E. E. Bertels. Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1960. Title-page imprint checked against the Ganjoor Museum scan. The Prologue is on printed pp 12–27. Square brackets and apparatus additions are distinguished from unbracketed main text. Image number equals printed page plus one. Consult source ↗ |
| Mohl | Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, Persian text edited by Jules Mohl, vol. I, Tehran pocket reprint: Sherkat-e Sahami-ye Ketabha-ye Jibi, with Franklin Publications; second printing, 1354 SH (first printing 1345 SH). The consulted 289-page PDF is the pocket reprint, not the original Paris folio. Its printed pp 10–11 are missing. PDF page = printed page + 6 through p 9, and printed page + 4 from p 12 in the opening sequence. Claims are limited to surviving pages. The original edition is catalogued by the BnF as Paris, 1838–1878, seven volumes. Consult source ↗ |
| Ganjoor | Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, Aghaz-e ketab, sections 1–12. Ganjoor.net, consulted for the project on 6 November 2026. Only the poem-body couplets supply the displayed reference. Reader comments, modern prose explanations, recordings and generated summaries are excluded. Local couplet anchors identify passages; digital reading marks are not treated as manuscript evidence. Consult source ↗ |
| Khaleghi main text | Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, ed. Jalal Khaleghi-Motlagh, vol. I. Tehran: Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia, sixth printing, 1396 SH (first Tehran printing 1386 SH). The imprint of the actual PDF was checked. This is the Tehran printing consulted, not a direct citation to the first New York impression. Prologue printed pp 3–18; PDF page = printed page + 16. Consult source ↗ |
| Khaleghi explanatory notes | Jalal Khaleghi-Motlagh, Yaddasht-ha-ye Shahnameh, part I. Tehran: Centre for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia, fourth printing, 1396 SH (first printing 1389 SH). Consulted passages: printed pp 1–4 for the Exordium; pp 17–24 for selected solar, devotional, compilation and source-history questions. Consultation was selective, not an exhaustive adoption of the editor’s explanations. PDF page = printed page + 22. Consult source ↗ |
Alignment, source surplus and boundaries
This register accounts for every displayed Ganjoor couplet and the separately aligned English passages, and identifies additional main-text blocks encountered in the inspected print spans. It is not an exhaustive transcription of every manuscript addition recorded in the three printed apparatuses. The missing Mohl span prevents a complete four-source surplus census.
| Chapter | Couplet totals | Alignment and source record |
|---|---|---|
| A0.1 | 15 English / 15 Ganjoor | Direct local alignment. Selected wording variants have separate readings tables. |
| A0.2 | 21 English / 19 Ganjoor | G 4 partly absorbed into English 3; G 14–15 expand to English 13–16; G 17 expands to English 18–19. |
| A0.3 | 25 English / 25 Ganjoor | G 4 expands to English 4–5; G 24–25 compress to English 25. Equal totals conceal redistribution. |
| A0.4 | 17 English / 15 Ganjoor | G 1 expands to English 1–2. English 13 has Mohl/apparatus support. Mohl p 6 also has the separate divine-beneficence couplet beginning خداوند گردون ورا داد نیکی without a separate English counterpart. Khaleghi relocates salvation counsel to p 9. |
| A0.5 | 8 English / 5 Ganjoor | English 4–6 correspond to the fuller shield, garment and night sequence in Mohl and to related print readings. Khaleghi’s first two solar couplets precede the Sun-and-Moon heading. |
| A0.6 | 8 English / 8 Ganjoor | English 2 follows the invisibility variant in Mohl and Khaleghi; Ganjoor/Moscow describe the monthly circuit. |
| A0.7 | 32 English / 31 Ganjoor | English 14 has Mohl/apparatus support. Bracketed or displaced devotional passages are described in the notes; editorial exclusion is distinguished from absence of transmission. |
| A0.8 | 19 English / 18 Ganjoor | G 1 expands to English 1–2. Mohl p 9 has two additional opening couplets before the familiar باغ دانش line and a remembered-book couplet between the tree image and the truth-and-symbol instruction. These have no separate English couplets; the source page preserves their wording. |
| A0.9 | 10 English / 10 Ganjoor | Direct local alignment. Prayer status differs among editions. Mohl verification unavailable because of missing printed pp 10–11. |
| A0.10 | 16 English / 15 Ganjoor | English 8 matches the Moscow p 23 apparatus addition under T; its transcription is now supplied. Mohl verification unavailable. |
| A0.11 | 18 English / 16 Ganjoor | English 16 has Mohl/apparatus support; English 18 is a royal-dedication boundary difference. Early Mohl material is unavailable; p 12 survives. |
| A0.12 | 48 English / 48 Ganjoor | G 19 expands to English 19–20; G 38–39 compress to English 39, with G 39 displayed separately. Mohl p 13 prints additional waking/soul-offering and royal-hand/heart material before its spring passage, and extra retainer praise near the brother’s introduction. These have no separate English couplets. Khaleghi records the sun-comparison line below the main text. |
Editorial determinations and remaining limits
| Passage or question | Status | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| A0.10.8 | Source gap closed | Persian counterpart transcribed from Moscow I p 23, apparatus note 1 under T. The English’s suitable-helper statement is supported. |
| A0.7.4 | Attribution shift documented | Yazdan names the divine source of revelation. The quoted sayings in the Persian sequence are attributed to the Prophet; divine origin and immediate speaker are distinguished in the note. English unchanged. |
| A0.7.22 | Referential interpretation documented | English names God; the allusive Persian helper can be read within the surrounding Ali/wasi praise. The note supplies contextual grounds for that alternative. English unchanged. |
| A0.9.5 | Semantic departure documented | The English’s opposition to good and truth is explained as a moral development of ill nature, not established as a direct lexical match or a verified Persian variant. English unchanged. |
| Khaleghi chapter boundaries | Earlier commentary corrected | Ruby-sky and Nowruz-garden verses are retained above the combined solar heading. Salvation counsel is relocated to the Prophet section. Placement is not omission. |
| Mohl pp 10–11 | Source lacuna remains | No intact replacement for the pocket-reprint pages was recovered. A0.9, A0.10 and early A0.11 cannot be called fully checked against Mohl. The missing text is not reconstructed from another edition. |
| Independent specialist review | Not performed | This edition records the completed analysis and its evidence. No claim of external peer review or certification is made. |
Attribution and publication reuse record
| Material | Treatment |
|---|---|
| English translation | Reproduced for its authors’ requested comparative project. The authors retain the English copyright. |
| Persian display | The historical poem is distinguished from modern editorial and presentation work. Ganjoor is attributed beside the display, and alternative print sources are attributed locally. Ganjoor’s About page describes free redistribution of its poetry data; it does not establish rights to every hosted third-party object. |
| Modern apparatus and explanations | Paraphrased in original English with precise attribution. No explanatory volume, complete apparatus, scan page or modern introductory essay is embedded or redistributed in this file. |
| Scan links | Links point to externally hosted sources. Access to a file and a public-domain label on one reprint are not treated as permission to republish every modern edition. No correspondence seeking permission has been sent. |
| Publication status | A final clearance for commercial hosting of every modern editorial selection or third-party asset has not been established. This record documents the reuse approach and remaining clearance question; it does not certify legal permission. |