A Study of Content and Origins of Fakhredin Ali Safi’s Thoughts in “Lata’ef-o-Tava’ef”

Abstract

Molana Fakhredin Ali Safi, an author of the 10th century AH, has created many works including the valuable book “Lata’ef-o-Tava’ef”, which is a collection of satirical tales about different social groups and classes, decorated with Quranic verses, hadith from the Prophet Mohammad and the Imams, and Arabic proverbs. This study examined the 867 tales, stories, and proverbs of the book, and found the origin of 399 of them in Arabic sources; 222 cases were traced into Persian sources before them. “Lata’ef-o-Tava’ef” takes advantage of Arabic sources like “Rabi-ol-Abrar”, “Tazkereh Hamdouniyeh”, and “Mohazerat-ol-Odaba”. He uses different methods like zero-alteration, semi-alteration, tale sequence, and translation. He has also used Persian sources such as “Resaleh Delgosha”, “Javame-ol Hekayaat va Lavame-o Revayaat’, “Baharestan”,… .

Keywords

• fakhredin ali safi
• lata’ef-o-tava’ef
• arabic sources
• persian sources
• impression