New-York tribune., 1907-01-19
"a Picturesque Book on the Liter
ature of Persia.

-Asre are several distinct classes of persons
z..sinr lively interest in the lteratures Of
TT.st The uniformed but eager mystic is
- ~ facing the sunrise because tradition re-
-, that truth lies in that direction. The rO-
,,io temperament is drawn to the Orient by
- ,rank and sometimes obtruding humanity,
- y. Questionable habit of speaking the whole
.-,,b IN outbursts Of religious fervor. amatory
-.ssion and blunt cynicisn. The philosophical
S,.,oyian searches Asia eagerly. too, convinced
-. ,seas now current among Western peoples
=. all 10 be found half-sprouted in that con-
s,on,'s soil which has been enriched by un-
,,roUn LAYERS Of fertilizing culture The latest
.or,ribution to the rapidly growing Library OF
r.erarv History" possesses some interest for
.b of these classes. though TO be sure. some
. ybem will gain much more than others from
she volume. Professor Browne has written
,,,srarv history in the strictest sense OF the
-brsse which means that he has avoided close,
,,nure interpretations on the one hand and
r,ere chronological cataloguing the other.
The reader IN search OF new insight into the
aWandeyinC Quatrains" popularity ascribed to
omar Khayyam viii be disappointed. as will he
tbe theosophist ana his relatives. and the sensa-
.,on hunter whose easy familiarity with the
arabian Nights makes him curious to wade
,hrough the muddy shadows OF a msnamed
.,oriental realism" II is the serious lover OF lit
srature who VIII reap the richest harvest from
professor Brownies labors. for his book supplies
fbe most needed factor OF adequate apprecia-
zion. the historical setting and the personal Pc
culiarlties Of Persian writers.
The bulk Of Oriental literature is largely In
cornprehensibe 10 Western readers. because the
,s,ter have not learned the presuppositions OF
an Eastern writer; when he refers indirectly TO
a massage in the Koran or 10 a detail OF local
KroSr sc IND sO the pOint and
as a result labels the author "abstruse" or
Dnvsrical" 1t would he impossible for any one
man 10 incorporate in one book that vast body
NJ dav-to-day knowledge and custom assumed
ny Eastern poets. Professor Browne has wisely
restricted himself 10 a presentation of the po-
utical and theological conditions determining the
course and the character of Persian literature'
this alone has proved a task almost beyond the
movers of anybody who insists upon writing
readable. well ordered book. For the number OF
fheologies in Islam is incredible. and every the-
ologv is political platform. thanks TO the teacl-
,pe of Naho.net and the exegesis of his sue
cessors. Political factions being almost as nu-
merous as the population in all Mahometan
,onn-ries and the poets of Islam being too fire.
ouently dependent for likelihood upon sInoo'h-
n administered panegyTtcs, II is obvious that
,be problem of portraying accurately the lhnu-
ence of political vicisstudes upon yFlcS ann
cuatrains is no trivial one
An earlier and br:efer volume has registered
Professor Brownies Views on early pre-lsla'iii'
Persian literature. The present volume arIer
bor, Inn, interesting discussion Of typical PER-
sian writers and literary forms. places oeiote
Us tFe pententiary- court of that odd genus
Sultan Mah-lud Of Gazus- the great klohappe!
Of literary men. This potentate had assem- Oiv1
.ro,,t him by bribes and by threats. an un"iI-
the Sultan
- >, have both respected and feared highly
,,o,,,gsn, subjects for he corTalled the great
n4rdaUsi. a certain Unsuri, later made laureate
~. ,usrrelsone Farrukhi. a genius on the trail
.,f MONEY and Asjadi. famed for his lnFehnoh oI
..sr7ife poetry" Nobody can fail 10 De ahluseu
- ;,s,r,ctea by the ways Of this petty Per-
-, ,,,,r+. but in IL looms up the figure OF
Firdawsi which wears no comic mask me
author Is an iconoclast the subject OF FIR
dawsi. he declares that the huge epic oE7
v-bicb The Persian Homer toiled twenty H-"'V
,ears-to sav nothing Of eleven more years con
sured in revising the FIRST hasty orAN
,n,,cb oyerrated The poem. which recounts INC
glorious deeds in Persia's history. is pronouhcea
TOO long. very monotonous, loaded Gown VIZ"
trite phrases and generally sluggish: II mas
..bis,-aa fame chiefly because it appeals To the
pareiane, national pride and TO the European
bis,o,ians love Of the facts it has preserved oh
she o,,7er hand Professor Browne IS sure tiia'
tbs roa-,s lvrics have never been Appreciated
Feosuse Of the intimate relation between poi
f,ics theology and literature in Islam the "ri'e
has preceded his discussion OF each H'ei"iS
e-ocr ~, , concise historical review Of the same
neriod The general reader will find in these re
,,ie,.e ,r,ite os much valuable information. TOT
rurposes Of literary study. as in the oiograPhieS
Of The poets Thus in the second epoch' the
sarv Selug Period the description of the rise
of the Agsassins and the Fatimids ferns an aa-
mirable prelude TO the study OF NlGiatlu-
Nru ono ~ the greatest Prime Ministers OF
the East. whose Treatise on the Ar o. Gov
eminent" is useful. not only as piece Of liter
a,,re and as p historical document but also as
modern political primer. Most of us. though
are not esrching the East for political truths'
The great statesman's contemporaries who con-
jurcI up quatrains prove mere attractive lh
his dav or, rather, epoch, appeared the loui
great Ruaeiyat poets Of Persia, Of whom ue
West knows only omar Khayyam. professor
Browne is even more iconoclastic toward the
much adored omar than he was toward fir
DAVIS But here he is simply taking the stand
point held by all Orientalists for many years
Although it was not until 1897 that the Omar
fairy tales were definitely discounted by FRO
fessor Zhukovski students Of Persian poetry
have long since known that the authorship Oh
nearly all the twelve hundred quatrains vari-
Ously sscribed TO omar is as uncertain as that
OF any limerick The Omar enthusiast will be
pained at learning that his hero is not even
third rate poet in Persia. and that his fame IN
ms native land rests entirely upon his astro-
logical and astronomical wisdom
The most serious criticism the reviewer can
bring against Professor Brownies history is that,
In treating the SelJug Period. he has given far