Story of a Story: A Study of the Formation and Development of the Legend of Oraynib

Although the renowned story of Oraynib is not properly grounded in reality، the writers، and especially the literati of various eras، have narrated it in their works. In this article، the tradition of this story is followed up in one era after another and it is disclosed that the legend of Oraynib، just like other legends، has changed from one century to another and from one book to another، being embellished and exaggerated over and over. What will be presented here is the development of the story of Oraynib; from the couple-of-page tradition of Al-Imama wa al-Siyāsa to its transformation into independent volumes of detailed prose and poetry and the significant role of the literati and poets in this respect.