A Note on the Attribution of Tāj-al-Masādir to Rūdakī

A book entitled Tāj-al-Masādir is cited by Haji Khalife in his encyclopedic book Kashf-al-ḏ͎unūn, attributed to Rūdakī Samarqandi. In fact, Haji Khalife cites two books of almost the same title by two authors: 1- Tāj-al-Masādir fi al-luγat by Abi Ja‘far Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali al-ma‘ruf bi Ja‘farak al-Muqri al- Bayhaqi, and 2- Tāj-al-Masādir fi luγāt al-Furs by Rūdakī al-Šā‘ir Abi al- Hasan Mohammad ibn [Abdillāh al-Samarqandi, al-mutavaffa sanat 434]. A number of contemporary scholars of Persian literature, among them Said Nafisi and Mohammad Dabir-Siyaqi, disputed the authenticity of Haji Khalife’s attribution. According to Nafisi, the last part of the latter’s name, shown here in bracket, is a later addition by the publisher of the second edition of Kashf-al-ḏ͎unun, for it is absent in the first edition of the book. Furthermore, this added part is totally erroneous: That Rūdakī’s name was Abu ‘Abdullāh Ja‘far ibn Mohammad and he died in the year 329/1002 is beyond dispute. In addition, there is no doubt that Haji Khalife’s ascription of the book entitled Tāj-al-Masādir fi luγat al-Furs to Rūdakī is incorrect, and the seemingly two books are in fact the same, its proper title being Tājal- Masādir fi al-luγat authored by above mentioned Abu Ja‘far Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-ma‘ruf bi Ja‘farak al-Muqri al-Bayhaqi in the year 544/1147. The book is an Arabic-Persian dictionary of infinitives. Apparently, the close resemblance of two names, particularly the presence of the name Ja‘far in both, must have impelled someone to attribute the book to Rūdakī, and the author of Kashf-al-ḏ͎unūn cited his erroneous attribution without hesitation. Dabir-Siyaqi is of almost the same opinion as Nafisi, except that he believes that it is possible to have two books, the second simply entitled Tāj-al- Masādir, authored by one Abu al-Hasan Mohammad ibn ‘Abdillāh Samarqandi who died in 343/955. These opinions aside, it seems that there are other reasons for the incorrect attribution of Tāj-al-Masādir to Rūdakī. First, there is a book entitled Al-Masādir or the Tāj-al-Masādir authored by 8 Farhangnevisi 5 & 6 Summary of the Contents Zuzani the philologist (d. 485/1093). It is quite possible that as a consequence of misreading لزوزنی as لرودکی, the book ended up being attributed to the poet of Samanid court. Second, almost the entire content of Zuzani’s book was copied by Bu Ja‘farak Bayhaqi in his work. So, it is conceivable that the close identity of contents of the two books led to the incorrect attribution in question.