The five Persian languages

Ibn al-Nadim transmits from Abd Allah ibn al-Muqaffa' that the languages of the Persians are: Pahlavi, Dari, Persian, Khuzi, and Syriac. ²

Pahlavi is attributed to Pahla, a name that applies to five cities. Dari is attributed to dar, meaning the gate, and it was the language of the royal court and of the city of al-Mada'in. ²

Ibn al-Nadim gives opinions on who first spoke or wrote in Persian. Among them Jiyumart, whom the Persians regard as Adam, the father of mankind; some say Bivarasp, who is al-Dahhak; some say Afridun; some say Jamshid. ²

He reads in the hand of al-Jahshiyari that books were few before the reign of Gushtasp, and that when Zoroaster appeared, writing spread. ²