Distortions، orthographical deviations and misreading in Bidel's Chahar Onsor Redacted by Sayyed Zia al-Din Shafi ei

Bidel-e Dehlavi¡ one of the outstanding poets and a follower of the School of Sabk-e Hendi (Indian Style) in the 12-13th/18-19th centuries¡ was also a competent versed prose writer. The Chahar Onsor (Four Elements) is his most extensive and most important prose work¡ which like his poetry¡ is oftentimes enigmatic¡ puzzling and full of fantastic imagery. This book was published in 1341/1962 (Kabul) and 1386/2007 (Tehran)¡ both very disorderly and badly affected by various imperfections. In 1392/2013¡ Zia’ al-Din Shafi’ei edited and published this book again. Considering that his edition is marred by numerous distortions¡ orthographical errors and misreading¡ the present authors have tried to bring to light its deficiencies and flaws on the basis of four manuscripts of the Chahar Onsor and by comparing them with Shafi’ei’s edition and suggesting corrections.