This article compares the Turkic translations of Kalilah and Dimnah by Kul Mas’ûd and Molla Muhammad Timur with regard to animal names used in them. The translation of Kul Mesud’s Kalilah and Dimnah was based on the Persian work of Nizâmüddîn Ebü’l-Me’âlî Nasrullâh b. Muhammed b. Abdülhamîd and the translation of Molla Muhammed Timur was based on the Persion work of Hüseyin Vaiz Kâşifi (date of death 1504) named Envar-i Süheyli. Both texts are Persian translations of İbnü'l Mukaffa's Arabic work. Even though they were translated from a Persian source, there exist significant differences between the two works regarding to the animal names. The differences are not due to the characters and symbols that the animals represent but due to the words and concepts used for the animal names. In both texts there are 73 different animal species. 69 of them exist in Molla Muhammed Timur's work. Molla Muhammed Timur used 116 different names for 69 animals. On the other hand Kul Mesud's work contains 63 animals out of 73 animal species. It is seen that Kul Mesud used a single name for each animal. Even though the animal names are basic Turkish, especially Molla Muhammed Timur used intensive Arabic and Persian names in his work.

Kul Mesud, Molla Muhammed Timur, Kalilah and Dimnah, Animal Names