Casa Editrice Persiani Hunara: Journal of Ancient Iranian Arts and History 2975-1608 3 No. 2 2025 12 01 The Continuity of Iranian Identity in Andarz Literature of the First Five Centuries AH 55 89 236475 10.22034/hunara.2025.236475 EN Faezeh Aghighi Iranology Foundation, Tehran 0000-0003-2340-2435 Journal Article 2025 08 19 <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Iranian identity did not disappear with the Arab invasion in the seventh century AD; rather, it persisted in various political, social, and even traditional and customary symbols and practices. This continuity is particularly prominent in the first five centuries AH. One of the main contexts </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">in which this continuity can be observed is</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> the advice literature. Although the style of writing advice texts, or <em>andarz</em>, is an Iranian tradition and </span><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; font-weight: normal;">the continuation of this practice</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Sitka Banner'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">during the Islamic centuries signifies the persistence of Iranian traditions and ideas, a precise examination of the literature—especially the earliest andarzes of the Islamic period—based on their main components: 1) the themes of the andarzes, and 2) the exemplary characters, reveals this continuity more clearly. This article, using a thematic analysis approach, not only considers the continuity of the andarz-writing style in the early Islamic centuries but also analyzes two main components in seven Persian andarzes from that period. The findings indicate that not only are many themes of these andarzes repetitions of those found in Pahlavi (Middle Persian) texts, but there is also a significant focus on ancient exemplary figures, particularly political ones.</span> https://www.hunara.org/article_236475_0063a7d6389d143038d628bd803df7a8.pdf