Kherad-name

The Kherad-nâme-ye Eskandari (Alexandrian Book of Wisdom) (also referred to as the Khiradnāma) of Abd-al-Rahmân Jâmi is a piece of Persian literature which existed as an heir to the tradition of the Khamsa of Nizami Ganjavi (d. 1209). It constitutes the final book of Jami's larger seven-book composition, his Haft Awrang. More specifically, it focuses on legends of Alexander the Great as recounted in Nizami's Iskandarnameh and ultimately in the tradition of the Alexander Romance genre of literature. Jami's representation of the genre offers his readers a spiritual reflection on Alexander's journeys interspersed with long philosophical meditations exemplified through short anecdotes (hekâyat). As with other Islamic authors of this era, Alexander is ultimately identified with Dhu al-Qarnayn in his construction of the eastern wall against Gog and Magog.

The text was composed before 1489, possibly in 1485, and was dedicated to the Timurid ruler of Herat (one of the cities believed to have been originally constructed by Alexander during his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire), Sultan Husayn Bayqara (r. 1469–1506). It is roughly 2,300 verses long, making it comparatively short with other Persian literature.