In six parts:
» 1. Shahnameh
» 2. The Dabistan
» 3. Thomas Hyde
» 4. Qazvini
» 6. Various
Burhan-i Kati (a Persian lexicon) as in J. A. Vullers’ Fragmente uber die Religion des Zoroaster
(Bonn, 1881) pages 113-115.The same text can be found in Farhang-i Jahangiri in Thomas Hyde’s Historia Religionis veterum Persarum (Oxford,1760), pp. 327-328.
Both are cited by A.V.W. Jackson in The Cypress of Kashmar and Zoroaster published in Zoroastrian Studies, the Iranian Religion and Various Monographs (1928).
'Kashmar (sic) is the name of a village of the district of Turshiz in the province of Khurasan. They (i.e. the Magians) say Zardusht planted, with auspicious horoscope, two cypress-trees, one in this same village (i.e. Kashmar), the other in Faramad, which is one of the villages of T u s in the province of Khurasan. [18] The claim of the Magians is that Zardusht brought the two cypress-shoots from paradise and planted them in these two villages.
When Mutawakkil the Abbasid was building the Jafarid palace [19] at Samarrah he sent orders to Tahir ibn 'Abdullah, the governor of Khurasan, in writing, that he should cut down that tree, put the trunk upon a cart, load the branches upon camels, and send it to Baghdad. An assemblage of the Magians offered Tahir 50,000 dinars, but he would not accept, and he ordered the tree to be hewn down. At the time when the tree fell, the earth underwent such a quaking that great damage was done- to the aqueducts and the buildings in that vicinity.
They say the age of the tree was 1450 years (Caliph Mutawakkil caused the cypress to be felled as A.H. 247= A.D. 861), and that the circuit of its trunk was 28 whip-lash lengths, and under its shadow more than 2000 cattle and sheep took rest. Moreover, birds of various kinds, beyond limit and count, had built their nests in it, so that at the time of the tree's fall the face of the sun was veiled by the multitude of the birds, and the sky became dark. Its branches were loaded upon 1300 camels, and the cost of (transporting) the trunk to Baghdad was 500,000 dihrams. When the cypress arrived one station before the Jafarid palace, Mutawakkil the Abbasid was hacked to pieces that same night by his servants.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Friday, December 21, 2012
Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
In six parts. Next: » 2. The Dabistan
» 3. Thomas Hyde
» 4. Qazvini
» 5. Burhan-i Kati
» 6. Various
Extracts from The Sháhnáma of Firdausí translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner
(London 1905) Volume 5. Pages 27-29.
Argument
§ 3. For Zarduhsht (Zoroaster) see p. 13 seq. Whether the planting of a cypress at Kishmar by him was an actual fact, or whether it is an instance of a people being misled by one of their own metaphors, it is impossible to say. To plant a tree to commemorate some important event is not unusual. Metaphorically to plant a tree, in the sense of instituting some new custom or making a new departure in policy, etc., is common enough in the Sháhnáma. We have an instance at the beginning of this section. At all events, the Cypress of Kishmar rivals Gushtásp's Black Horse in fame, and, after living for some fourteen centuries and a half, is said to have been cut down by the orders of the Khalífa Mutawakkal (A.D. 846-860). The following is the account of it given in the Dabistán:—“The professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree, that in … Kashmar … a dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress planted by Zarduhsht for king Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before or since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree having been made at the court of Mutawakkal when he was engaged in building the Sarman raï, or Samarah palace in the Jáafriyah, the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it was not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to Abdallah Táhir Zavalimin, ‘possessor of happiness,’ to have the tree cut down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdad When intelligence of this came to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The professors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress was felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and water-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had built their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to darken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress: the very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its sheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one thousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one station from the Jáafriah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by his own guards, so that he never beheld the tree.” (Dabistán translated … by David Shea and Anthony Troyer i. 306)
According to other accounts, Zarduhsht brought down two cypress-shoots from Paradise, one of which he planted at Kishmar and the other in the neighbourhood of Tús. (Veterum Persarum … Religionis Historia. Ed. 2nd. By Thomas Hyde p. 332)
The statement in the text that Gushtásp raised over the Cypress of Kishmar a lofty palace has been interpreted to mean that he built himself a summer-house among its boughs, or rather that Zarduhsht built it for him: “in hujus Arboris summitate erexit Aestivarium.” (ibid p.325)
In villages in Persia at the present day a semi-sacred character is attached to some of the large trees, which have platforms built round them where the villagers sit and smoke in the evenings. In the Land of the Lion and Sun… By C. J. Wills, M.D p. 364
§ 3 How Zarduhsht appeared and how Gushtásp accepted his Evangel
Page 33-35
Folio 1497
Thus passed a while, and then a Tree appeared
On earth within the palace of Gushtásp,
And grew up to the roof—a Tree whose roots
Spread far and wide, a Tree with many branches,
Its leafage precept and its fruitage wisdom:
How shall one die who eateth of such fruit?
A Tree right fortunate and named Zarduhsht—
The slayer of malignant Áhriman.
Thus said he to the monarch of the world:—
“I am a prophet and thy guide to God.”
Folio 1498
He brought a censer, filled with fire, and said:—
“This have I brought with me from Paradise.
The Maker of the world said: ‘Take thou this,
And look upon the heaven and the earth,
Because I made them not of dust and water:
Behold herein how I created them.
See now if any one could do this thing,
Save I that am the Ruler of the world?
If thou acknowledgest My handiwork
Thou must acknowledge Me to be the Lord.’
Receive His good religion from the speaker,
And learn from him His usage and the way.
See that thou do as he directeth thee,
Choose wisdom, recognise this world as vile,
And learn the system of the good religion,
For kingship is not well when Faith is lacking.”
When that good Sháh had heard of that good Faith,
And had accepted it and its good customs,
His valiant brother, glorious Zarír,
Who used to vanquish mighty elephants;
The Sháh, his father, now grown old at Balkh,
To whose heart worldly things were bitterness;
The mighty chiefs from all the provinces,
The wise physicians and the men of war,
All gathered to the monarch of the earth,
Assumed the cincture and received the Faith.
Then was the Grace of God made manifest,
For evil left the hearts of evil men,
The charnels were fulfilled with light divine,
And seeds were freed from all impurity.
Then mounting to his throne high-born Gushtásp
Dispatched his troops throughout the provinces,
Distributed archmages through the world,
And set up Fanes of Fire. He first established
Folio 1499
The Fire of Mihr Barzín; consider well
The system that the realm received from him.
Zarduhsht then planted him a noble cypress
Before the portal of the Fane of Fire,
And wrote upon that noble, straight-stemmed tree:—
“Gushtásp is convert to the good religion”;
Thus did he make the noble cypress witness
That wisdom was disseminating justice.
When in this manner many years had passed
The cypress-tree increased in height and girth,
Until that noble tree had grown so great
That e'en a lasso would not compass it.
When it had sent aloft full many a bough
Gushtásp raised over it a goodly palace,
Whereof the height and breadth were forth cubits;
He used no clay or water in the building.
When he had reared the palace of pure gold,
With silvern earth and dust of ambergris,
He painted there a picture of Jamshíd,
Engaged in worshipping the sun and moon,
Commanded too a picture to be drawn
Of Farídún armed with the ox-head mace,
And limned there all the potentates. Consider
If other ever had such puissance.
When that famed hall of gold had grown thus goodly
He had its walls inlaid with precious stones,
And set an iron rampart round about.
The king of earth made it his home. He sent
This message through the realm: “In all the world
What equalleth the cypress of Kishmar?
God sent it down to me from Paradise,
And said: ‘Ascend to Paradise therefrom.’
Now hearken, all of you, this rede of mine:
Go to the cypress of Kishmar afoot;
Adopt ye all the pathway of Zarduhsht,
And, turning from the images of Chín,
Gird round your loins the cincture in the Grace
And greatness of the monarch of Írán.
Folio 1500
Heed not the usance of your predecessors,
Trust in the shadow of this cypress-tree,
And fix your gaze upon the Shrine of Fire,
As bidden by the Prophet of the Truth.”
He spread abroad his words throughout the world
Among the men of name and potentates,
And at his bidding all that wore the crown
Turned them toward the cypress of Kishmar;
This holy shrine a paradise was found
Wherein Zarduhsht the Dív in fetters bound.
Next:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Extracts from The Sháhnáma of Firdausí translated by Arthur George Warner and Edmond Warner
(London 1905) Volume 5. Pages 27-29.
Argument
§ 3. For Zarduhsht (Zoroaster) see p. 13 seq. Whether the planting of a cypress at Kishmar by him was an actual fact, or whether it is an instance of a people being misled by one of their own metaphors, it is impossible to say. To plant a tree to commemorate some important event is not unusual. Metaphorically to plant a tree, in the sense of instituting some new custom or making a new departure in policy, etc., is common enough in the Sháhnáma. We have an instance at the beginning of this section. At all events, the Cypress of Kishmar rivals Gushtásp's Black Horse in fame, and, after living for some fourteen centuries and a half, is said to have been cut down by the orders of the Khalífa Mutawakkal (A.D. 846-860). The following is the account of it given in the Dabistán:—“The professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree, that in … Kashmar … a dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress planted by Zarduhsht for king Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before or since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree having been made at the court of Mutawakkal when he was engaged in building the Sarman raï, or Samarah palace in the Jáafriyah, the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it was not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to Abdallah Táhir Zavalimin, ‘possessor of happiness,’ to have the tree cut down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdad When intelligence of this came to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The professors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress was felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and water-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had built their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to darken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress: the very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its sheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one thousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one station from the Jáafriah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by his own guards, so that he never beheld the tree.” (Dabistán translated … by David Shea and Anthony Troyer i. 306)
According to other accounts, Zarduhsht brought down two cypress-shoots from Paradise, one of which he planted at Kishmar and the other in the neighbourhood of Tús. (Veterum Persarum … Religionis Historia. Ed. 2nd. By Thomas Hyde p. 332)
The statement in the text that Gushtásp raised over the Cypress of Kishmar a lofty palace has been interpreted to mean that he built himself a summer-house among its boughs, or rather that Zarduhsht built it for him: “in hujus Arboris summitate erexit Aestivarium.” (ibid p.325)
In villages in Persia at the present day a semi-sacred character is attached to some of the large trees, which have platforms built round them where the villagers sit and smoke in the evenings. In the Land of the Lion and Sun… By C. J. Wills, M.D p. 364
§ 3 How Zarduhsht appeared and how Gushtásp accepted his Evangel
Page 33-35
Folio 1497
Thus passed a while, and then a Tree appeared
On earth within the palace of Gushtásp,
And grew up to the roof—a Tree whose roots
Spread far and wide, a Tree with many branches,
Its leafage precept and its fruitage wisdom:
How shall one die who eateth of such fruit?
A Tree right fortunate and named Zarduhsht—
The slayer of malignant Áhriman.
Thus said he to the monarch of the world:—
“I am a prophet and thy guide to God.”
Folio 1498
He brought a censer, filled with fire, and said:—
“This have I brought with me from Paradise.
The Maker of the world said: ‘Take thou this,
And look upon the heaven and the earth,
Because I made them not of dust and water:
Behold herein how I created them.
See now if any one could do this thing,
Save I that am the Ruler of the world?
If thou acknowledgest My handiwork
Thou must acknowledge Me to be the Lord.’
Receive His good religion from the speaker,
And learn from him His usage and the way.
See that thou do as he directeth thee,
Choose wisdom, recognise this world as vile,
And learn the system of the good religion,
For kingship is not well when Faith is lacking.”
When that good Sháh had heard of that good Faith,
And had accepted it and its good customs,
His valiant brother, glorious Zarír,
Who used to vanquish mighty elephants;
The Sháh, his father, now grown old at Balkh,
To whose heart worldly things were bitterness;
The mighty chiefs from all the provinces,
The wise physicians and the men of war,
All gathered to the monarch of the earth,
Assumed the cincture and received the Faith.
Then was the Grace of God made manifest,
For evil left the hearts of evil men,
The charnels were fulfilled with light divine,
And seeds were freed from all impurity.
Then mounting to his throne high-born Gushtásp
Dispatched his troops throughout the provinces,
Distributed archmages through the world,
And set up Fanes of Fire. He first established
Folio 1499
The Fire of Mihr Barzín; consider well
The system that the realm received from him.
Zarduhsht then planted him a noble cypress
Before the portal of the Fane of Fire,
And wrote upon that noble, straight-stemmed tree:—
“Gushtásp is convert to the good religion”;
Thus did he make the noble cypress witness
That wisdom was disseminating justice.
When in this manner many years had passed
The cypress-tree increased in height and girth,
Until that noble tree had grown so great
That e'en a lasso would not compass it.
When it had sent aloft full many a bough
Gushtásp raised over it a goodly palace,
Whereof the height and breadth were forth cubits;
He used no clay or water in the building.
When he had reared the palace of pure gold,
With silvern earth and dust of ambergris,
He painted there a picture of Jamshíd,
Engaged in worshipping the sun and moon,
Commanded too a picture to be drawn
Of Farídún armed with the ox-head mace,
And limned there all the potentates. Consider
If other ever had such puissance.
When that famed hall of gold had grown thus goodly
He had its walls inlaid with precious stones,
And set an iron rampart round about.
The king of earth made it his home. He sent
This message through the realm: “In all the world
What equalleth the cypress of Kishmar?
God sent it down to me from Paradise,
And said: ‘Ascend to Paradise therefrom.’
Now hearken, all of you, this rede of mine:
Go to the cypress of Kishmar afoot;
Adopt ye all the pathway of Zarduhsht,
And, turning from the images of Chín,
Gird round your loins the cincture in the Grace
And greatness of the monarch of Írán.
Folio 1500
Heed not the usance of your predecessors,
Trust in the shadow of this cypress-tree,
And fix your gaze upon the Shrine of Fire,
As bidden by the Prophet of the Truth.”
He spread abroad his words throughout the world
Among the men of name and potentates,
And at his bidding all that wore the crown
Turned them toward the cypress of Kishmar;
This holy shrine a paradise was found
Wherein Zarduhsht the Dív in fetters bound.
Next:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
In six parts:
» Texts 1. Shahnameh
» 3. Thomas Hyde
» 4. Qazvini
» 5. Burhan-i Kati
» 6. Various
The Dabestan-e Madaheb/Mazahib* (School of Religious Doctrines) Translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer
Volume I (Paris, 1843), pp. 306-308:
(* According to one author, Mazah means 'sect'.)
The professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree, that in Kashmir or Kashmar,1 a place celebrated for female beauty, a dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress2 planted by Zardusht [Zoroaster] for King Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before or since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree having been made at the court of Mutawakkal3 when he was engaged in building the Sarman raï, or Samarah4 palace in the Jâafriyah,5 the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it was not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to Abdallah Táhir Zavalimin, "possessor of happiness," to have the tree cut down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdád. When intelligence of this came to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The professors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress was felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and water-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had built their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to darken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress: the very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its sheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one thousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one station from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by his own guards,6 so that he never beheld the tree. Some Muhammedan writers state the circumference of the trunk at twenty-seven táziáynah, each a cubit and a quarter long, and also that fourteen hundred and fifty years had elapsed from the time of its being planted to the year 252 of the Hejirah (846, A. D.).7
Footnotes
1 Kashmar, Kishmar is the name of a town in the country of Tirshez, in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, p. 332).
2 Upon the cypress, according to the Ferhang Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted two cypress-trees; one in the town just mentioned, and the other in the town of Faru’mad, or Feru'yad, or Ferdi'd, which is in the country of Tus. The Magi believe, he planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him from paradise.
[To these miracles add that related in the Shahnameh Naser, quoted by Hyde (p. 324): Zoroaster planted before the king's palace a cypress-tree, which in a few days grew to the height and thickness of ten rasons (measure undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a summer palace.]
3 He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began to reign in the year of the Hejira 232, A.D. 846.
4 Samarah is a town in Chaldaea, from which the Samaritan Jews have their name, and which was for some time the seat of the Muselman empire (Herbelot).
5 Jâafriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called from its builder, Jâfar, the original name of the khalif who assumed the title of Matavakhel al Allah, "he who confides in God."
6 He had then reigned fourteen years and two months. The Turks were excited to murder him by his own son Montassar, in the town of Makhuriah, on the very spot where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by his son Shiruyah (Siroes)–(Herbelot).
7 According to the above statement, the tree would have been planted 604 years before our era, that is, about the time of Gushtasp, king of Persia, if the years above stated be taken for solar years; but if for lunar (that is for only 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of the cypress would be 562 years B.C., and 548, if the computation be referred to the end of Mutawakhal's life.
in six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
The Dabestan-e Madaheb/Mazahib* (School of Religious Doctrines) Translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer
Volume I (Paris, 1843), pp. 306-308:
(* According to one author, Mazah means 'sect'.)
The professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree, that in Kashmir or Kashmar,1 a place celebrated for female beauty, a dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress2 planted by Zardusht [Zoroaster] for King Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before or since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree having been made at the court of Mutawakkal3 when he was engaged in building the Sarman raï, or Samarah4 palace in the Jâafriyah,5 the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it was not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to Abdallah Táhir Zavalimin, "possessor of happiness," to have the tree cut down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdád. When intelligence of this came to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The professors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress was felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and water-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had built their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to darken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress: the very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its sheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was impossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one thousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one station from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by his own guards,6 so that he never beheld the tree. Some Muhammedan writers state the circumference of the trunk at twenty-seven táziáynah, each a cubit and a quarter long, and also that fourteen hundred and fifty years had elapsed from the time of its being planted to the year 252 of the Hejirah (846, A. D.).7
Footnotes
1 Kashmar, Kishmar is the name of a town in the country of Tirshez, in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, p. 332).
2 Upon the cypress, according to the Ferhang Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted two cypress-trees; one in the town just mentioned, and the other in the town of Faru’mad, or Feru'yad, or Ferdi'd, which is in the country of Tus. The Magi believe, he planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him from paradise.
[To these miracles add that related in the Shahnameh Naser, quoted by Hyde (p. 324): Zoroaster planted before the king's palace a cypress-tree, which in a few days grew to the height and thickness of ten rasons (measure undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a summer palace.]
3 He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began to reign in the year of the Hejira 232, A.D. 846.
4 Samarah is a town in Chaldaea, from which the Samaritan Jews have their name, and which was for some time the seat of the Muselman empire (Herbelot).
5 Jâafriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called from its builder, Jâfar, the original name of the khalif who assumed the title of Matavakhel al Allah, "he who confides in God."
6 He had then reigned fourteen years and two months. The Turks were excited to murder him by his own son Montassar, in the town of Makhuriah, on the very spot where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by his son Shiruyah (Siroes)–(Herbelot).
7 According to the above statement, the tree would have been planted 604 years before our era, that is, about the time of Gushtasp, king of Persia, if the years above stated be taken for solar years; but if for lunar (that is for only 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of the cypress would be 562 years B.C., and 548, if the computation be referred to the end of Mutawakhal's life.
in six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
In six parts:
» 1. Shahnameh
» 2. The Dabistan
» 4. Qazvini
» 5. Burhan-i Kati
» 6. Various
Veterum Persarum et Parthorum et Medorum Religionis Historia by Thomas Hyde
2nd Edition (Oxford, 1760). page 332
Latin:
Mira multa de eo credunt Magi, ejus Asseclae, quale est illud in Libro Pharh. Gj. [= Farhang-i Jahangiri, a seventeenth-century Persian lexicon], apud Káshmer, seu Keshmer, quod est nomen urbis ex regione Terjhíz, quae in Chorasân, seu Bactriâna. Magi credunt quòd Zerdusht duas Cupressos sub fausto Sydere plantavit; unam sc. in dicta urbe, & alteram in urbe Pharûyad (aliàs dicta Pharâyad, seu Pherdíd) quae ex regione Tus. Credunt eum has arbores plantasse ex duobus ramis [seu virgultis] quos secum ex Paradiso attulit.— Dicitur quòd Chalípha Mutawâkkil Abbasides scripsit ad Tâhìr Ibn Abdallah, qui tunc praefectus Chorasaniae fuit, ut dictam arborem succideret, & Truncum Currubus seu Plaustris, Ramos verò Camelis imponeret, & hoc modo mitteret ad Bagdâd. Magi, hoc audito, obtulerunt 50,000 Dinar ut illa Arbor non succideretur: sed Táhir non acceptavit. — Ajunt sub hujus Arboris umbrâ plures quàm 10,000 Boum Ovium & Caprarum cubasse; & alia innumera Animalia inter ejus ramos nidificâsse, terram casu ejus tremuisse, & Aves ex eâ avolantes totum aërem operuisse, eásque, quasi per modum precandi, gemitum suum edidisse, & Oves ac Boves mugitu ingemuisse. Trunci ad Bagdâd Translatio constitit 500,000 Dirèm, & Ramis ejus onusti fuêre 1600 Cameli.
Very approximate contents in English:
The Magi have a story in the Libro Pharh i.e. Farhang-i Jahangiri about the town of Káshmer or Keshmer in the region of Terjhíz in Chorasân or Bactria. The Magi believe that Zerdusht planted two cypress trees, one in the said city and the other in Pharûyad (Pharâyad or Pherdíd) in the region of Tus. They believe that he planted the trees from two shoots in brought from Paradise.It is said that Abbasid Caliph Mutawâkkil wrote to Tâhìr Ibn Abdallah, Governor (Prefect) of Chorasân to cut down the tree and send the cut trunk on carts and cales to Baghdad. The Magi, on hearing this, offered 50,000 dinars if he would not cut down the tree, which Táhir did not accept.They say, under the shade of the tree more than 10,000 sheep, goats and oxen can shelter, and countless other creatures live amongst its branches. When the tree was cut down, the earth trembled, the birds flew away covering the whole sky, and the sheep and cows groaned as if in prayer. The cost of transportation to Baghdad was 500,000 Dirhams and the branches were loaded on 1600 camels.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Veterum Persarum et Parthorum et Medorum Religionis Historia by Thomas Hyde
2nd Edition (Oxford, 1760). page 332
Latin:
Mira multa de eo credunt Magi, ejus Asseclae, quale est illud in Libro Pharh. Gj. [= Farhang-i Jahangiri, a seventeenth-century Persian lexicon], apud Káshmer, seu Keshmer, quod est nomen urbis ex regione Terjhíz, quae in Chorasân, seu Bactriâna. Magi credunt quòd Zerdusht duas Cupressos sub fausto Sydere plantavit; unam sc. in dicta urbe, & alteram in urbe Pharûyad (aliàs dicta Pharâyad, seu Pherdíd) quae ex regione Tus. Credunt eum has arbores plantasse ex duobus ramis [seu virgultis] quos secum ex Paradiso attulit.— Dicitur quòd Chalípha Mutawâkkil Abbasides scripsit ad Tâhìr Ibn Abdallah, qui tunc praefectus Chorasaniae fuit, ut dictam arborem succideret, & Truncum Currubus seu Plaustris, Ramos verò Camelis imponeret, & hoc modo mitteret ad Bagdâd. Magi, hoc audito, obtulerunt 50,000 Dinar ut illa Arbor non succideretur: sed Táhir non acceptavit. — Ajunt sub hujus Arboris umbrâ plures quàm 10,000 Boum Ovium & Caprarum cubasse; & alia innumera Animalia inter ejus ramos nidificâsse, terram casu ejus tremuisse, & Aves ex eâ avolantes totum aërem operuisse, eásque, quasi per modum precandi, gemitum suum edidisse, & Oves ac Boves mugitu ingemuisse. Trunci ad Bagdâd Translatio constitit 500,000 Dirèm, & Ramis ejus onusti fuêre 1600 Cameli.
Very approximate contents in English:
The Magi have a story in the Libro Pharh i.e. Farhang-i Jahangiri about the town of Káshmer or Keshmer in the region of Terjhíz in Chorasân or Bactria. The Magi believe that Zerdusht planted two cypress trees, one in the said city and the other in Pharûyad (Pharâyad or Pherdíd) in the region of Tus. They believe that he planted the trees from two shoots in brought from Paradise.It is said that Abbasid Caliph Mutawâkkil wrote to Tâhìr Ibn Abdallah, Governor (Prefect) of Chorasân to cut down the tree and send the cut trunk on carts and cales to Baghdad. The Magi, on hearing this, offered 50,000 dinars if he would not cut down the tree, which Táhir did not accept.They say, under the shade of the tree more than 10,000 sheep, goats and oxen can shelter, and countless other creatures live amongst its branches. When the tree was cut down, the earth trembled, the birds flew away covering the whole sky, and the sheep and cows groaned as if in prayer. The cost of transportation to Baghdad was 500,000 Dirhams and the branches were loaded on 1600 camels.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
In six parts:
» 1. Shahnameh
» 2. The Dabistan
» 3. Thomas Hyde
» 5. Burhan-i Kati
» 6. Various
Zakariyah Qazvini (13th century CE) as published in F. Wustenfeld’s Caswini’s Kosmographie (Cosmography)
(Goettingen, 1848).
As quoted by A.V.W. Jackson in The Cypress of Kashmar and ZoroasterAs in Zoroastrian Studies, The Iranian Religion and Various Monographs.
Kashmar, a village, is one of the scattered settlements in the district of Nishabur (Nishiipfir). In it there was a cypress tree, one of the noble straight cypresses, which was planted by Kushtasb the King. It’s like in beauty, height, and size was not to be seen; and it was one of the wonders of Khurasan. Al-Mutawakkil was told about it and was anxious to see it. As it was not possible for him to make the journey to Khurasan, he wrote to Tahir ibn 'Abdullah, giving him orders to cut it down, load the pieces of its trunk and branches upon camels, and bring it to him personally, because he wanted to see it. His counsellors advised against this and sought to frighten him by an augury, but their advice concerning the cypress was of no avail.
When the people of the district (around Kashmar) were told of this they gathered together, implored, and offered money for its preservation, but without effect. The cypress was cut down. The grief of the people (assembling) around it was great; lamentations arose and tears were (shed) upon it. Wrapping it in wool, they sent it on camels to Baghdad. And ‘Ali ibn Jahm (Ali ibn Jahm as-Sami was a poet at the court of Mutawakkil) composed the verses:-
"They said al-Mutawakkil sent it (i.e. the cypress) on its way; the cypress moves onward, but fate (too) is advancing. It (the cypress?) was covered, because our Imam (Mutawakkil) was to be covered (killed) by a sword of his own children."
(This verse foreboding the Caliph’s violent end, is important as containing the earliest allusion to the cypress.)
But before the arrival of the cypress, al-Mutawakkil had been killed at the hands of his slaves; the ill omen became a reality.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Zakariyah Qazvini (13th century CE) as published in F. Wustenfeld’s Caswini’s Kosmographie (Cosmography)
(Goettingen, 1848).
As quoted by A.V.W. Jackson in The Cypress of Kashmar and ZoroasterAs in Zoroastrian Studies, The Iranian Religion and Various Monographs.
Kashmar, a village, is one of the scattered settlements in the district of Nishabur (Nishiipfir). In it there was a cypress tree, one of the noble straight cypresses, which was planted by Kushtasb the King. It’s like in beauty, height, and size was not to be seen; and it was one of the wonders of Khurasan. Al-Mutawakkil was told about it and was anxious to see it. As it was not possible for him to make the journey to Khurasan, he wrote to Tahir ibn 'Abdullah, giving him orders to cut it down, load the pieces of its trunk and branches upon camels, and bring it to him personally, because he wanted to see it. His counsellors advised against this and sought to frighten him by an augury, but their advice concerning the cypress was of no avail.
When the people of the district (around Kashmar) were told of this they gathered together, implored, and offered money for its preservation, but without effect. The cypress was cut down. The grief of the people (assembling) around it was great; lamentations arose and tears were (shed) upon it. Wrapping it in wool, they sent it on camels to Baghdad. And ‘Ali ibn Jahm (Ali ibn Jahm as-Sami was a poet at the court of Mutawakkil) composed the verses:-
"They said al-Mutawakkil sent it (i.e. the cypress) on its way; the cypress moves onward, but fate (too) is advancing. It (the cypress?) was covered, because our Imam (Mutawakkil) was to be covered (killed) by a sword of his own children."
(This verse foreboding the Caliph’s violent end, is important as containing the earliest allusion to the cypress.)
But before the arrival of the cypress, al-Mutawakkil had been killed at the hands of his slaves; the ill omen became a reality.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 6. Various
In six parts:
» 1. Shahnameh
» 2. The Dabistan
» 3. Thomas Hyde
» 4. Qazvini
» 5. Burhan-i Kati
Hamdallah Mustafi (1340 CE) in Nuzkat al-Kulub Translated by G. Le Strange
(London, 1919) Part 2, page 142.
As cited by A.V.W. Jackson in The Cypress of Kashmar and Zoroaster published in Zoroastrian Studies, the Iranian Religion and Various Monographs (1928).
Kashmar is a provincial town of this district, and here of old was a cypress tree, taller than any other in all the rest of the world. It was planted, it is said, by Jamasp the Wise , and more than once in the Shah Namah the Cypress of Kashmar is mentioned, as for instance in the couplet:
"And a branch of cypress from Paradise they brought
Which he planted before the gate of Kashmar."
In the village of Kashmar no earthquake is ever felt, although in various other places, of all the neighborhood round and about, earthquakes are common
Ḥamza Isfahani (10th century CE) in Mowazana Bayn al-ʿArabiwa’l-ʿAjami
Translated by Fozuni Astarabadi
Pages 484-85
Mustaufi states that the Abarkuh cypress of his time was famous throughout the world, even as from the days of the Kayanian kings the cypress trees of Kashmar and of Balkh were famous. And at this present time the cypress here (i.e. at Abarkuh) is taller and of greater girth than those others, and in the Land of Iran there is none now it’s equal.
In the time of the ʿAjam (Persian) kings there was at Nīšābūr a tree called sarv-e sahī under which all Persian notables gathered for a few days every year to worship it; it served as Mecca to the ʿAjam. Several thousand people lived on the votive offerings and sacrifices to that tree, and several thousand pictures (naqš) and songs (ṣawt) had been made to describe it.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
Hamdallah Mustafi (1340 CE) in Nuzkat al-Kulub Translated by G. Le Strange
(London, 1919) Part 2, page 142.
As cited by A.V.W. Jackson in The Cypress of Kashmar and Zoroaster published in Zoroastrian Studies, the Iranian Religion and Various Monographs (1928).
Kashmar is a provincial town of this district, and here of old was a cypress tree, taller than any other in all the rest of the world. It was planted, it is said, by Jamasp the Wise , and more than once in the Shah Namah the Cypress of Kashmar is mentioned, as for instance in the couplet:
"And a branch of cypress from Paradise they brought
Which he planted before the gate of Kashmar."
In the village of Kashmar no earthquake is ever felt, although in various other places, of all the neighborhood round and about, earthquakes are common
Ḥamza Isfahani (10th century CE) in Mowazana Bayn al-ʿArabiwa’l-ʿAjami
Translated by Fozuni Astarabadi
Pages 484-85
Mustaufi states that the Abarkuh cypress of his time was famous throughout the world, even as from the days of the Kayanian kings the cypress trees of Kashmar and of Balkh were famous. And at this present time the cypress here (i.e. at Abarkuh) is taller and of greater girth than those others, and in the Land of Iran there is none now it’s equal.
In the time of the ʿAjam (Persian) kings there was at Nīšābūr a tree called sarv-e sahī under which all Persian notables gathered for a few days every year to worship it; it served as Mecca to the ʿAjam. Several thousand people lived on the votive offerings and sacrifices to that tree, and several thousand pictures (naqš) and songs (ṣawt) had been made to describe it.
In six parts:
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 1. Shahnameh
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 2. The Dabistan
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 3. Thomas Hyde
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 4. Qazvini
» Cypress of Kashmar Source Texts 5. Burhan-i Kati
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