st (315, 19-316, 25) 38

They are almost exclusively of Persian origin 38

_ETHICO-DIDACTIC LITERATURE OF IRAN_

Opinion on the importance of the influence of ethical and didactical
works of the Sasanian times on the literature of this class of early
Moslem epoch, generally speaking has been expressed in scientific works
and has found admittance into a few general surveys of Persian
literature. To the literary monuments go back a number of books on what
is called _Adab_, good behaviour or agreeable manners, in modern Persian
literature. Besides several literary monuments of later ages,[1] for the
solution of this question, capital importance attaches to the
information given in the _Fihrist_ of an-Nadhim which is the fundamental
source of the history of entire Arabic literature bearing on our period.
Further on we shall draw upon this work with the object of determining
this species of literary tradition in Arabic books of the first
centuries of Islam.

[Footnote 1: P. Horn, Geschichte der persischen Letteratur, _(Die
Letteraturen des Ostens in Finzeldarslellungen_ Bd VI) 38, and _Die
Mittelpersische Letteratur_, 237.]

Great importance for this problem lies in that portion of the Fihrist
which when first edited had elicited little interest, and where are
enumerated the titles of books of ethico-didactic character, Persian,
Greek, Indian, Arabic, by well-known authors and by anonymous
writers[1]. We are aware that in the Fihrist there are partly Arabic,
partly Persian, titles of books which have come down to us in a
mutilated form, but at the same time some of them have reached us in
their correct shapes and others are often easily restorable.

[Footnote 1: Fihrist 315, 19-316, 23.]

In this section of the Fihrist we have in all forty-four titles of
books. Among them a large number can be directly traced to Persian
origin and a portion were evidently written under Persian influence. To
the first class we have no hesitation in assigning fourteen names of
books, since as we shall see, two of them or possibly three pertain to
one and the same work. We will examine these titles in some detail.

1. The first book is by Zadan Farrukh and is a testament to his son[1].
Although we are not able to recall a book of this title among the
Pahlavi literature that has come down to us, still the general character
of this work is presented to us in perfect definiteness. It is
undoubtedly one of the testaments or counsels, the