Some Verses in the Former Dialect of Shiraz in Nasīm al-Rabī and the History of Waṣṣāf

The former dialect of Shiraz was the direct descendant of a variety of Middle Persian which had been spoken in Fars. This dialect in the later stages of its development was integrated with Dari Persian and finally in the late 10th century AH failed into oblivion.Among the surviving specimens of the dialect, there are five verses in Nasīm al-Rabī‘, translation of Rabī‘ al-Abrār of Zamakhsharī (translated before 781 AH) and also a single verse in the History of Waṣṣāf. One of the five verses recorded in Nasīm al-Rabī‘ is from the Muthallathāt of Sa‘dī and two of them are composed by Rūzbihān Baqlī. In this paper the author examines the language of these specimens.