Tyranny – by Professor Dr. Muhammad Karim Al-Kawaz

The philosopher Bidpai did not write the book “Kalila and Dimna” of his own accord, nor did he write it out of love for authorship, but in response to a desire expressed by Dabshalim, the King of India. However, both the king and the writer were in contexts that produced the writing, and there was also a pattern that worked to appear in the written text. The king did not desire writing without reason, and the writer did not respond without reason either. Let us then read the context of writing “Kalila and Dimna”, deriving our information from two sources:
One of them is Ali bin Al-Shah Al-Farsi, or Bahnud bin Sahwan, who is an obscure person, almost a figment of imagination, whose two mentioned names contradict to the point of fabrication. However, his introduction has become essential to the book “Kalila and Dimna”, and no edition is without it. His introduction cannot be deleted, considering it outside the core of the book, as it provides valuable information in identifying it, or it delves into the reason for which it was written.
The other is Will Durant, author of “The Story of Civilization,” which is a famous historical reference that detailed the study of Eastern civilizations and devoted comprehensive information about India in politics, arts, and literature. However, he did not approach the book, nor did he mention it within the history of India or among their artifacts, so we will compare between them.

From the book (The King and the Lion in Cultural Criticism) by Professor Dr. Muhammad Karim Al-Kawaz, published by the Academic Center for Research, Baghdad, in 2018, p. 47, available on Google.