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FOWAṬĪ, HEŠĀM b. ʿAMR (d. Baghdad, probably before 230/845), Muʿtazilite theologian of Basran affiliation and student of Abu’l-Hoḏayl (q.v.). In contrast to most of his schoolfellows, he was of pure Arab extraction, belonging to the tribe of Banū Šaybān. [Nonetheless, his biography is included because of Muʿtazilite influence on Shiʿite…

FOX, small member of the dog family (Canidae). Foxes have large ears and bushy tails; the muzzles are long and pointed, and the skulls are long and flattened relative to most other canid species. Coat color ranges from pale buff to orange-red. They occur throughout most of the world, with…

FOX (Av. raopi-, Mid. Per: rōbāh; NPers. rūbāh; Figure 1). ii. IN PERSIA In pre-Islamic Iran, the fox was considered as one of the ten varieties of dog (in the Avesta, cf. Vendidad 13.16), created against a demon called xabag dēw (Bundahišn, tr., Bahār, pp. 79, 103). It was considered…

FOŻŪLĪ, MOḤAMMAD, b. Solaymān (ca. 885-936/1480-1556), widely regarded as the greatest lyric poet in Azerbayjani Turkish, who also wrote extensively in Arabic and Persian. He adopted the pen name (taḵallosá) of Fożūlī (presumptuous) in order to be “unique,” as he reveals in the preface to his Persian dīvān (Karahan, in…

FOʾĀDI BOŠRUʾI, ḤASAN (b. Bošruya in Khorasan, 1899; d. Tehran, 11 Šahrivar 1315/1 September 1936; Figure 1), historian, philologist, educator, and head of Bahai (see BAHAI FAITH) schools in Iran and Turkmenistan.  He was born to the family of notable Bahais.  His great-grandfather, Mollā Moḥammad-Ebrāhim, was an eminent mojtahed of…

FRĀDA, a Margian leader. According to the Bīsotūn (q.v.) inscription of Darius I (3.10-21), the people of Margiana, (i.e., Marv) revolted against him and made Frāda their chief (king according to the Elamite and Babylonian versions). Darius ordered Dādaraši, satrap of Bactria, to crush the rebellion; Frāda was defeated on…

FRAHANG Ī OĪM, an Avestan-Pahlavi glossary so named after its first entry, Av. oīm glossed by Pahl. ēwag, though the work is introduced with the lengthy title: “On the understanding of the speech and words of the Avesta, namely, what and how its zand is.” A more comprehensive statement introduces…

FRAHANG Ī PAHLAWĪG, “a Pahlavi dictionary,” is rather a description than the title of an anonymous glossary of some five hundred mostly Aramaic heterograms (ideograms), in the form used by Zoroastrians in writing Middle Persian (Book Pahlavi), each explained by a “phonetic” writing of the corresponding Persian word. The work…

FRAMADĀR (FRAMĀTĀR), a Sasanian administrative title. In Old Persian the substantive framātar appears in royal titles and is always accompanied by the word paru- meaning “numerous, many”; it is generally translated as “master, lord [of many]” (Kent, Old Persian, p. 198). The title was used in set formulae by Achaemenid…

FRANCE i. Introduction ii. Relations with Persia to 1789 iii. Relations with Persia 1789-1918 iv. Relations with Persia Since 1918 v. Administrative and Military Contacts vi. Persia and the French Revolution vii. French Travelers in Persia 1600-1730 viii. Travelogues of the 18th-20th Centuries ix. Image of Persia and Persian Literature…

FRANCE. i. INTRODUCTION Compared to the long-standing history of Persian civilization, France emerged as a powerful entity endowed with its own distinctive culture only in the 13th century C.E., i.e. the great century of Christianity. Strongly marked by French influence, this century also coincided with the Mongol invasions that brought…

FRANCE ii. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA TO 1789 The Pre-Safavid period. In the early Middle Ages, Persia was perceived by the French mostly through biblical, Greek, and Latin sources. During the Crusades (q.v.), which were sanctioned by the papacy and launched by the Franks, all Muslim countries, including Persia, were considered…

FRANCE iii. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA 1789-1918 After more than sixty years of half-hearted diplomatic maneuverings, permanent relations were finally established between the France and Persia in 1855. They remained mutually strong and balanced until 1871, becoming thereafter low-keyed and lukewarm while purely cultural links continued to develop regardless. 1789 TO…

FRANCE iv. RELATIONS WITH PERSIA SINCE 1918 During the First World War, France, unlike England, Russia, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire, had no direct strategic interests in Persia. France did, however, become involved with Persia in two ways: First, through diplomatic moves which helped to neutralize German schemes in the…

FRANCE ix. THE IMAGE OF PERSIA AND PERSIAN LITERATURE AMONG FRENCH AUTHORS Whereas Germany could vaunt Goethe’s West-östlicher Diwan and Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra, and England had FitzGerald’s imaginative and free translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, French writers and critics had their own, manifold responses to the lure of…