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{{Version
{{Version
|Has Description=The version of the ''Sindbad'' narrative titled ''Kitāb al-Sindbād'', or  الوزراء السبعة [al-wuzarāʾ al-sabʿa, ''The Seven Viziers''] is referenced in Arabic literature dating from the 9th and 10th centuries. Though no early versions of the full text survive, allusions to the narrative may be found in the works of the historian such as al-Ya'qūbī (9th century) and al-Shābushtī (d. after 998 CE / late 4th century AH), suggesting that the narrative was well known by the 10th century, with the original Arabic transmission date by the 9th, or possibly even 8th century ([[Krönung (2016)|Krönung 2016, p. 370)]]. Additional references to the narrative are found in ''Murūj al-Dhahab by'' al-Masʿūdī’ (d. 956 CE / 345 AH), who claims the popular entertainment book ''Kitāb al-Sindbād'' refers to the sage Sindbād who lived during the reign of the Indian king Kush and relates the story of the Seven Viziers, the Prince, and the King's wife; it is also mentioned in ''al-Fihrist'' by Ibn al-Nadīm (d. 995 CE / 385 AH), in which ''Kitāb Sindbād al-Ḥakīm'' is referenced as a book of entertainment that exists in two forms - long and short - and has either Persian or Indian origins (see [[Ateş (1948)|Ateş 1948]], pp. 12-13). Ibn al-Nadīm identifies the Arabic poet Abān al-Lāhiqī as the author of one version, and also 'transmits the name of the Persian scholar Mūsā b. 'Īsā al-Kisrawī (d. 874/875 CE), one of the leading translators from Persian into Arabic, who has been unanimously identified in modern scholarship as Mousos from Andreopoulos's Preface' in the Greek version (Krönung 2016, p. 370).  
|Has Description=The narrative titled كتاب السندباد [''Kitāb al-Sindbād'', The Book of Sindbad], or  الوزراء السبعة [''Al-Wuzarāʾ al-sabʿa'', The Seven Viziers] was transmitted independently as a stand-alone narrative, in addition to its redaction as part of the larger ''[[Arabic Version A101 (Hundred and One Nights)|One Hundred and One]]'' and ''[[Arabic Version A1001 (Thousand and One Nights)|One Thousand and One Nights]]'' tale collections. This independent iteration of the ''Seven Viziers'' narrative, referred to in scholarship as the Arabic version A (e.g., [[Krönung (2016)|Krönung, 2016)]], is most closely related to the version found in the ''One Hundred and One Nights'' (A101), but also exhibits some distinct differences. For example, the independent Version A does not include the story of the king and the elephant, [[Elephantus]], often found at the start of the A101 text. Other than that, the embedded stories are then essentially the same for the two versions up to the 15th (Version A) or 16th (Version A101) story, [[Simia]], after which their patterns diverge (see story order, below).  


 
The different Arabic Version A manuscripts, listed here, also demonstrate some variation in the number and order of stories contained within them. For example, the earliest surviving independent ''Seven Viziers'' text -  c. 1535, edited by Ateş in the appendix to his edition of ''Sindbad-name'' (1948), found in the Ali Paşa Library in Istanbul - contains the 21 stories listed below. Other later versions from the 18th century, including [[Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3670|Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3670]] and [[Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3639]] translated by Basset in 1903, include 24 stories instead. Notably, they include some stories - e.g. [[Curiositas]], [[Imago]], [[Capsa]] - that appear infrequently (if at all) elsewhere in the tradition.
The surviving copies of the text in Arabic are much younger than this, however, and they fall into three distinct versions or redactions:
|Has Title=الوزراء السبعة (Al-Wuzarāʾ al-sabʿa, The Seven Viziers)
 
|Has Branch Of Tradition=Book of Sindbad
A1001: The version of ''The Seven Viziers'' found in the ''One Thousand and One Nights''
|Has Parent Version=Seven Viziers
|Has Language Of Version=Arabic
[[A101 (Hundred and One Nights)|A101]]: The version of ''The Seven Viziers'' embedded in the ''One Hundred and One Nights'' 
|Has Start Date Of Composition=700
 
|Has End Date Of Composition=850
Arabic Version A: ''The Seven Viziers'' redacted indepently of a larger frame structure.
|Has Source For Date Of Text Composition=Krönung (2016); Ateş (1948)
|Has Branch Of Tradition=East
|Has Modern Research Literature=Ateş (1948); Krönung (2016); Redwan (2023); Ott (2012); Artola (1978); Perry (1960); Basset (1903); Belcher (1987)
|Has Original Language Of Version=Arabic
|Has Modern Edition=Ateş, Sindbād̲-nāme (1948)
|Has Modern Research Literature=Ateş (1948); Krönung (2016); Redwan (2023); Perry (1959); Ott (2012)
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Leo
|Has Sequence Number=1
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Avis
|Has Sequence Number=2
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Lavator
|Has Sequence Number=3
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Panes
|Has Sequence Number=4
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Gladius
|Has Sequence Number=5
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Striga
|Has Sequence Number=6
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Mel
|Has Sequence Number=7
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Zuchara
|Has Sequence Number=8
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Fons
|Has Sequence Number=9
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Balneator
|Has Sequence Number=10
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Canicula
|Has Sequence Number=11
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Aper
|Has Sequence Number=12
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Canis
|Has Sequence Number=13
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Pallium
|Has Sequence Number=14
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Simia
|Has Sequence Number=15
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Turtures
|Has Sequence Number=16
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Elephantinus
|Has Sequence Number=17
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Ingenia
|Has Sequence Number=18
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Puer 3 annorum
|Has Sequence Number=19
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Puer 5 annorum
|Has Sequence Number=20
}}
{{EmbeddedStory
|Has Short Title=Senex Caecus
|Has Sequence Number=21
}}
}}

Latest revision as of 11:25, 23 February 2026

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The narrative titled كتاب السندباد [Kitāb al-Sindbād, The Book of Sindbad], or الوزراء السبعة [Al-Wuzarāʾ al-sabʿa, The Seven Viziers] was transmitted independently as a stand-alone narrative, in addition to its redaction as part of the larger One Hundred and One and One Thousand and One Nights tale collections. This independent iteration of the Seven Viziers narrative, referred to in scholarship as the Arabic version A (e.g., Krönung, 2016), is most closely related to the version found in the One Hundred and One Nights (A101), but also exhibits some distinct differences. For example, the independent Version A does not include the story of the king and the elephant, Elephantus, often found at the start of the A101 text. Other than that, the embedded stories are then essentially the same for the two versions up to the 15th (Version A) or 16th (Version A101) story, Simia, after which their patterns diverge (see story order, below).

The different Arabic Version A manuscripts, listed here, also demonstrate some variation in the number and order of stories contained within them. For example, the earliest surviving independent Seven Viziers text - c. 1535, edited by Ateş in the appendix to his edition of Sindbad-name (1948), found in the Ali Paşa Library in Istanbul - contains the 21 stories listed below. Other later versions from the 18th century, including Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3670 and Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 3639 translated by Basset in 1903, include 24 stories instead. Notably, they include some stories - e.g. Curiositas, Imago, Capsa - that appear infrequently (if at all) elsewhere in the tradition.

Identification & General Information

Title
الوزراء السبعة (Al-Wuzarāʾ al-sabʿa, The Seven Viziers)

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition
Book of Sindbad


Recorded Secondary Versions

Connected Manuscripts

Language & Composition

Language of version
Arabic


Date of Composition
700 - 850


Source for date of composition
Krönung (2016), Ateş (1948)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature
Ateş (1948), Krönung (2016), Redwan (2023), Ott (2012), Artola (1978), Perry (1960), Basset (1903), Belcher (1987)
Modern Editions
Ateş, Sindbād̲-nāme (1948)


Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version












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This page was last edited on 23 February 2026, at 11:25.
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