1996/01/01 by Mohamad Tavakoli‐Targhi · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Allegory #Ancient history #Archaeology #Art #Byzantine Studies and History #Eurasian Exchange Networks #Historiography #History #History of Islam #Islam #Islamic Studies and History #Law #Literature #Narrative #Order (exchange) #Persian #Philosophy #Political science #Politics #Sovereignty #Theology
paper · doi:10.1080/00210869608701847
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The historical accounts of pre-Islamic Iran have diverse allegorical meanings. These meanings are embedded in narrative structures that terminate in the Muslim conquest of Iran and the death of Yazdigird III (d. 31/651 or 652), the last Sasanian king. In early “Islamicate” historiography, the accounts of ancient Iran served as an allegory of the Persian (differentially identified as Furs, 'Ajam, and Majūs) submission to Islam. The narrative termination of Persian sovereignty ( sal ṭanai ) coincided with the commencement of Islam and the closure of the cycle of prophecy inaugurated by Adam. The co-termination of Sasanian dynastic rule and the cycle of prophecy mark the transition to a new and “superior” moral and political order—divinely sanctioned to last until “the end of time” (ākhir-i zamāri).