Kalila Wa Dimna

Synopsis

Kalila wa Dimna is the classic Arabic translation of the Panchatantra collection of animal tales. There are recorded over two hundred different versions known to exist in more than fifty languages. After the Arab invasion of Persia, Ibn al-Muqaffa's version (two languages removed from the pre-Islamic Sanskrit original) emerged as the pivotal surviving text that enriched world literature. Ibn al-Muqqaffa's work is considered a model of the finest Arabic prose style, and "is considered the first masterpiece of Arabic literary prose."