Book of Arda Viraf

The Book of Arda Viraf is a Zoroastrian religious text of Sassanid era in Middle Persian language that contains about 8,800 words. It describes the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian (the 'Viraf' of the story) through the next world. Due to the ambiguity inherent to Pahlavi script, 'Viraf' (the name of the protagonist) may also be transliterated as 'Wiraf', 'Wiraz' or 'Viraz'. The 'Arda' of the name (cf. Asha; cognate with Skt. r̥ta) is an epithet of Viraf and is approximately translatable as "truthful" or "righteous." "Viraz" is probably akin to Proto-Indo-European *wiHro--, "man" see Skt. vīra. The text assumed its definitive form in the 9th-10th centuries A.D., after a long series of emendations.

Textual History

The date of the book is not known, but in The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Prof. Charles Horne assumes that it was composed fairly late in the ancient history of Zoroastrianism, probably from the period of the Sassanian empire, when Zoroastrianism experienced a state-sponsored revival. The fact that the "evil" Alexander the Great is referred to as a Roman suggests this period, in which the rivalry between the two empires was intense.