The Qissat al-Haggag from the University Library in Bratislava

GazaKova, Zuzana (2023) The Qissat al-Haggag from the University Library in Bratislava. ACTA ORIENTALIA ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARUM HUNGARICAE, 76 (2). pp. 273-303. ISSN 0001-6446

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Abstract

This article provides a description, scholarly edition, and translation of an interesting variant of a wellknown folk narrative entitled Qissat al-Haggag about the famous Umayyad governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and a young man. The story also appears in various other manuscripts but has rarely been studied. In this case, it is preserved in Ms. TF 136 No. 387 from the Basagic's Collection of Islamic Manuscripts, which is housed at the University Library in Bratislava, Slovakia. The variation of the story was also integrated into the Arabian Nights, being a part of the well-known Wortley-Montague manuscript stored in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. To preserve the authentic scribal practices, the presented edition offers the text with all its orthographic and linguistic peculiarities, regardless of how insignificant or incomprehensible they might seem. The edition is accompanied by a translation and explanatory notes. This is probably the first time that a complete text from the Basagic's Collection has been thoroughly studied.

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