The author of the article makes an endeavour to determine the place and importance of the Biblical legend (The Being - chapters 37-50) about Joseph the Egyption in the creation of the famous mesnevi “Yusuf and Zuleykha” by Jami being the third one of his “Seven Poems”. Proceeding from the text of Mavlono Jami`s mesnevi, the respective chapters of “The Bible” and the involvement of the Koranic tales about Yusuf, the author comes to the conclusion that the divine books – those of “The Bible” and “the Koran” – can be considered as the principal sources of Abdurakhman Jami`s poems. Proximities and distinations between the Biblical legend and Jami`s poem have been elicited. It is stressed that neither the names of the heroine, Potifar`s wife (Futifar at Jami) nor the Pharaoh, the tsar of the palace, nor the chief of his boduguards are mentioned.
Jami`s “Yusuf and Zuleykha”, Biblical legend, Joseph the Egyptian, Koranic tale “akhsan-ul-kisas” – “the finest of tales”; Tajik literature teaching
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