چكيده لاتين
Attar Nishaburi, a poet of the 6th and 7th centuries AH, is a prominent figure in mystical literature, and his only prose work, "Tazkerat al-Awliya" (Memorial of the Saints), is among the most important prose texts of literary mysticism. In contrast, the name of a lesser-known author, Abu al-Futuh Ismail ibn Abi Mansur Tusi, emerges, whose work, "Hezar Hekayat-e Sufiy@n" (A Thousand Tales of the Sufis), is a valuable contribution to the field of mysticism; however, limited biographical information about this writer is available. This research provides an analytical comparison of the common tales found in "Tazkerat al-Awliya" by Farid al-Din Attar Nishaburi and "Hezar Hekayat-e Sufiy@n" by Abu al-Futuh Ismail ibn Abi Mansur Tusi. Given the proximity of their composition dates and their potential shared sources, this study elucidates the similarities and differences in the structure, theme, and characterization of these shared narratives. To this end, 53 common tales involving 30 mystics, whose names appear in both books, were first extracted and recorded. Subsequently, these tales were analyzed from the perspectives of structure, theme, and characterization. The findings indicate that Attar, in "Tazkerat al-Awliya," tends towards brevity and structural conciseness, whereas Tusi, in "Hezar Hekayat-e Sufiyan," employs elaboration, detailed description, and presents moral-didactic messages in a more popular language. Although these two works share the main themes of certain common tales, they exhibit significant differences in their narrative methods and portrayal of characters. These points suggest that both authors drew from common sources, but each employed different approaches to storytelling based on their respective objectives and target audiences. In addition to highlighting the similarities and differences between these two works, this research serves as a step towards a better understanding of the methods of narration and recurrence of mystical tales in classical Persian texts. It may also lead to a deeper understanding of the book "Hezar Hekayat-e Sufiyan."
