A critical study of the editing method of Naser Khosro's Khwan-e Ekhvan

Naser Khosro’s Khwan-e Ekhvan has been published twice: one in Egypt by Yahya al-Khashab and the other in Iran by Ali Akbar Qavim. The methods used in the redaction of both are very flawed¡ and this has been responsible not only for having no sound systematic edition of the Khwan-e Ekhvan available¡ but also for the imperfections in the studies that have drawn on it.
This article while presenting a critical study of the methods used in the two existing editions of the Khwan-e Ekhvan¡ and an analysis of it in terms of language and content¡ it explores the effects of those editions on other researches in the Persian language and literature. The article also seeks to propound systematic approaches to editing in the domain of history of Persian language¡ stylistics¡ and vocabulary. Additionally¡ other shortcomings and weaknesses of the two editions of the Khwan-e Ekhvan have been identified¡ the conclusion being that most probably¡ the Qavim edition has been prepared based on the text provided by Yahya al-Khashab.