Abstract :
The 1831 publication of Marcus Aureliusʹ Meditations in Persian comprises one of the 19th centuryʹs most intriguing cross-cultural and inter-religious texts. Produced by the Austrian Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, and addressed to the reigning Shah of Persia, this translation negotiates a wide diversity of concerns, including political diplomacy, literary aesthetics and religious difference. The present study explores the complex process of rendering the philosophy of European antiquity for a modern Muslim readership, identifying the semantic shifts engendered by expressing pagan wisdom through a Persian idiom. Foremost in our consideration will be examining how Hammer-Purgstallʹs substitution of definitively Islamic language for Aureliusʹ Greek terminology produces a text that amalgamates Stoicism and Sufism, infusing Roman contemplation with Islamic spirituality. The paper concludes with discussion of Hammer-Purgstallʹs own investment in this translationʹs syncretism, reading these Persian Meditations as a reflection of his own spiritual life.
