Modern Dari is today one of the richest
languages in the world. It retains a link, close or distant, with all
the Aryan languages in the East as
well as those in the West. It, thus,
bears a close resemblance to all these languages in respect of
grammar, syntax, and composition. However, on account of the deep
attachment of the Aryan scholars to Islamic learning and sciences on
the one hand and to Arabic language on the other, Dari became
progressively a richer and vaster language.
In the middle of the
first/seventh century when the people of Ariana embraced Islam, the
Arabic language gained a complete hold on that country. It came to be
looked upon not only as the language of religion but also one of arts
and letters. During the early period of the 'Abbasid Caliphate when a
strong movement was launched to produce scientific and literary works
in Arabic, the Aryans played a very important role in it. They were
also conspicuous in rendering translations of Pahlawi, Syriac, and at
times even Greek works. They also composed a large number of original
works in Arabic. After this Arabic became so widely popular and
gained such an immense hold on Ariana that the most important books
in the field of Arabic grammar and lexicography were written by the
Aryans. Many of the Dari poets composed Arabic verse and some of
their works have been acknowledged amongst the finest and most
exquisite specimens of Arabic poetry. The Aryan philosophers
adoptedArabic as the medium of their expressionfrom theverybeginning.
Only a few of them ever attempted to compose their philosophical
works in Dari. Books produced in Ariana on the subjects of astronomy,
mathematics, and medicine were mostly written in Arabic. Some of the
Aryan historians also selected Arabic as their vehicle of expression.
Most of the religious literature, including jurisprudence (Fiqh),
liadit_b, and commentary on the Holy Qur'an, was also produced in
Arabic. From the earliest Islamic period the Dari language had
imported Arabic elements. Especially in the domain of technical terms
Dari was completely overwhelmed by Arabic. Incidentally, the Aryans
have given special meanings to many Arabic words which have also
passed into Urdu in their changed Dariized sense. The overwhelming
influence of Arabic on the Dari language is traceable in different
epochs of Aryan history.
However, we find
that some of the great scholars of Ariana like ibn Sina, Nasir
Khusrau, Afdal'al-Din Kas_hani, and abu Raihan al-Biruni have at
times shown in their Dari works a tendency to coin fresh Dari words
instead of employing the current technical and scientific Arabic
terms. Certain other writers have also shown a tendency to employ new
compound epithets of purely Dari origin in their works. The
outstanding specimens of this trend in the Indo-Pakistani Dari
literature are visible in A'in-i Akbari of abu al-Fadl.
The excessive use of
Arabic words in Dari prose started in the fifth/ eleventh century.
Kalileh wa Dimneh which was rendered into Dari by Nasr Allah b. 'Abd
al- Hamid from the Arabic version of ibn al-Muqaffa' may be regarded
as the first specimen of this type of writing. Amongst other books
written in this style may be enumerated Marzban Nameh of Sa'd al-Din
of Varivin, Tarikh-i Wassa/, Tdrikh-i Mu'jam, and Durrah-i Nadirah,
the last being the work of Mirza Mahdi Khan, the historian of the
Court of Nadir Shah. But the number of such books is very small. In
fact, ninety-nine Dari books out of one hundred have been written in
simple and direct style and they have always reflected the
contemporary idiom, except where a writer has deliberately digressed
from the natural style to employ Arabic phrases, a tendency which had
been regarded as a kind of literary treat.
As a result of the
systematic development of Dari poetry and use of symbolism, Dari
prose evolved a new style in which the writer would lay the highest
emphasis on allusions, metaphors, and rhetorical devices. We notice
the same trend in the recent prose styles of some European languages.
This exceedingly sophisticated style of Dari prose in which the
content was obscured by vague rhetoric and long and repetitious
sentences reached its zenith in the ninth/fifteenth and
tenth/sixteenth centuries. It also penetrated into the Indo-Pakistan
sub-continent where we find in Seh NaLhr-i Zuhuri and Rasa'il-i
Tughhra-i Mashhadi its most outstanding specimens.
This style won
remarkable popularity in the field of Court documents, royal commands
and decrees, and official correspondence. The tradition passed on to
the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent and found its finest expression in
Mans_haat-i Abu al-Fall Alldmi. It also found its way to Turkey and
dining this period the official correspondence of the Ottoman Caliphs
was wholly conducted in the same style as that in Dari. This "Court
style" originated in Ariana in the sixth/twelfth century,
enjoyed a large, uninterrupted era of popularity and found its best
specimen in Maus_haat-i Mirza Tahir Wahid composed in the
eleventh/seventeenth century. It was, however, dealt a fatal blow by
Mirza abu al-Qasim Qa'im Magam Farahani (1193/17791251/1835)
whose prose was distinguished for the simplicity and purity of its
style.
The contemporary Dari prose has a
highly simple, facile, and elegant expression. It has freed itself
from the conventional ornate and abstruse style. Today it has drawn
itself far closer to the idiomatic and colloquial Dari expression
than ever before.
During the long history of Dari prose a
very large number of books have been written in all branches of
knowledge such as jurisprudence, commentary on the Holy Qur'an,
scholastic theology, mysticism, philosophy, medicine, mathematics,
astronomy, arts, ethics, tales and fables, and even such subjects as
handicrafts. However, a majority of prose works in Dari have always
been confined to history and practical ethics. That also explains why
all books on the history of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent during
the Islamic period have been produced in Dari. On this very account
some knowledge of Dari may be regarded as an essential
prerequisite for learning the history of some of the Asian countries.
In fact, Dari literature may be divided into poetry and history as
its two main component parts.