A Contemplation on ‘Sar -ʻalaf’ in Marzban-Nameh

There has been an ongoing debate over the correctness of the record of 'Sar-ʻalaf' and its meaning in the "Shotor va Shotorbān" (Camel and the Camel owner) story in the seventh book of Marzban-Nameh. Allameh Qazvini has pointed out, in the footnote, that the form is unanimously the same in all the editions, but putting a question mark, he cast doubt on the accuracy of the form and its meaning. Other editors, and researchers who worked on editing and annotating this text, have adopted different opinions towards it. Some accepted this record and tried to delineate it; some considered it an instance of miswriting, and some have removed parts or all of it. They have argued for eliminating, accepting, or suggesting an alternate for the form. In this study, we tried to identify the accurate record based on dialectical evidence and then provide an exact meaning. 'Sar-ʻalaf' means newly grown and soft parts of plants and refers to any high-quality forage.