Kalīlah and Dimnah - (Library of Arabic Literature) by Ibn Al-Muqaffaʿ

Book Synopsis

Timeless fables of loyalty and betrayal

Like Aesop's Fables, Kalīlah and Dimnah is a collection designed not only for moral instruction, but also for the entertainment of readers. The stories, which originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra and Mahabharata, were adapted, augmented, and translated into Arabic by the scholar and state official Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ in the second/eighth century. The stories are engaging, entertaining, and often funny, from "The Man Who Found a Treasure But Could Not Keep It," to "The Raven Who Tried To Learn To Walk Like a Partridge" and "How the Wolf, the Raven, and the Jackal Destroyed the Camel."

Kalīlah and Dimnah is a "mirror for princes," a book meant to inculcate virtues and discernment in rulers and warn against flattery and deception. Many of the animals who populate the book represent ministers counseling kings, friends advising friends, or wives admonishing husbands. Throughout, Kalīlah and Dimnah offers insight into the moral lessons Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ believed were important for rulers--and readers.

A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Review Quotes

"This edition breathes fresh life into Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ's masterpiece, emphasizing its timeless relevance and its role as a mirror of moral and political wisdom. Fishbein and Montgomery's translation masterfully conveys the depth and beauty of these stories, making them accessible to a new generation of readers."-- "New Books Network"

"This translation is a welcome addition to the field."-- "Medievalists.net"

"[This translation] should immediately become the English translation of choice for this work."-- "Al-Usur al-Wusta"

"[A] delightful new translation of a major text of classical Arabic literature."-- "Al-Ahram Weekly"

About the Author

Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (Author)
Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (d. 139/757) was a Persian translator, author, thinker, and state official who wrote important treatises on rulership in Arabic.

Michael Fishbein (Editor, Translator)
Michael Fishbein is Lecturer Emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA.

James E. Montgomery (Translator)
James E. Montgomery is Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity Hall. His latest publications are In Deadly Embrace: Arabic Hunting Poems, Fate the Hunter: Early Arabic Hunting Poems, and Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice, with Michael Fishbein. In 2024 he was elected Fellow of the British Academy.