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Abstract

Ẓahīrī Samarqandī’s Sindbād-nāmeh, written ca. 1160-1164 CE, is the oldest extant Persian version of the frame tale known as “The Seven Sages.” Through a comparison with near-contemporary ethics, this article argues that the Sindbād-nāmeh provided “working through emotion” tales for its male readership. Some of the tales in the Sindbād-nāmeh typically presented as warning against the dangers of haste are, on a deeper level, narrating the consequences of anger, or in some cases, fear. Furthermore, stories framed as ‘wiles of women tales’ also warn against other ‘vices of the soul’ such as excessive appetite or desire, while other tales address male sexual anxieties.

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