Abstract
Persian literary prose represents an independent stream from the domain of Persian poetry. While it bears clear artistic and social responsibilities, it also possesses an autonomous aesthetic system. In classical Persian LITERATURE, prose has generally been overshadowed by the artistic and cultural dominance of poetry, and in traditional rhetoric, its aesthetic nuances and principles have been less thoroughly examined. This lack of attention has been so pronounced that even a clear and widely accepted definition of Persian literary prose and its works is not available within the literary community. This mode of expression has, on one hand, been the primary vehicle for thought and the principal instrument for conveying religious, philosophical, political, historical, and other concepts. On the other hand, it has assumed, and continues to bear, the significant responsibility of narration and storytelling to a greater extent than poetry. Therefore, defining its frameworks and recognizing its unique capabilities in creating literariness, and consequently influencing the audience, is of paramount importance. It appears that the rhetoric in syntax, as the most comprehensive RHETORICAL tool, alongside the balanced application of figurative primes, as well as an understanding of narrative poetics (which is independent of conventional rhetoric), could be the key to uncovering the beauty of ancient Persian literary texts. These are texts whose distinguishing literary qualities, in comparison to poetry and contemporary narrative beauty, remain unrecognized. Our hypothesis is that through the combination of RHETORICAL LITERATURE and narrative LITERATURE, one can arrive at a noteworthy criterion for assessing the literariness of ancient prose. In this fundamental research, we have endeavored, using a library-based method, to analyze three samples of Persian prose texts utilizing RHETORICAL and narrative tools to arrive at a reliable measure for distinguishing literary prose texts from non-literary prose texts. Based on the findings, the prose of Seyar al-Moluk [Rules for Kings] is literary from both RHETORICAL and narrative perspectives. The History of Sistan (both in its initial and final sections) possesses a literary narrative, but rhetoric does not predominate, and it cannot be termed RHETORICAL-literary. The prose of Zabān va Tafakkor [Language and Thought] is considered neither RHETORICALly nor narratively literary.