Shoghal, Shekar or Shekal: A Lexical Correction in Saadi's Bustan in Light of Southern Iran's Folk Culture
Document Type : پژوهشی اصیل
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Persian Language and Literature, Eqlid Higher Education Center, Eqlid, Iran.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran .
Abstract
a particular word in chapter two of Bustan appears inconsistent with the poem’s aesthetic and logical coherence, suggesting a longstanding and deeply ingrained error in the cultural memory of Iranian readers. In the tale of the Dervish and the Fox, we read: A pale and disheveled dervish was in this state when a lion appeared, holding a jackal in its claws. The hungry lion devoured the jackal, and the remains of the jackal fell to a helpless fox. If you'd like, I can also adjust the tone to be more poetic, literary, or modern. Given the biological behavior of lions and foxes, in which the consumption of fellow carnivores is exceedingly rare and typically limited to extreme necessity, the conventional reading of "jackal" (شغال) in this context seems questionable. In this study, the authors consult Southern Iranian folk culture and conduct a philological analysis of manuscript variants and classical commentaries to argue that the commonly accepted word is likely incorrect. The accurate term, they propose, is shikar (شکار, “prey”), which in certain Southern dialects has undergone phonetic shifts to forms such as shekal (شکال). Moreover, shekal has historically referred to a type of mountain goat prevalent in southern Iran.
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