The great work of Ḥarîri consists of fifty Makâmât, or Assemblies. Of these the late Mr. Thomas Chenery translated and published the first twenty-six, with copious and valuable notes, in 1867. He had fully intended to complete the translation of the remaining twenty-four, and also to prepare an Index to the two volumes. But called away to the editorship of the Times in 1877, his hopes and expectations were never fulfilled, and he died in 1884, leaving his task un­finished.

In 1891 the Oriental Translation Fund, which had existed from 1828 to 1878, was revived under the same name, but as a new series. Among the works that came under the consideration of the committee appointed by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, the trans­lation and annotation of the remaining twenty-four Assemblies of Ḥarîri, proposed by Dr. F. Steingass, held an important place, and was accepted.

By the courtesy of the executors of the late Mr. Chenery, two hundred and fifty unbound copies of his work were obtained and purchased, and during these negotiations, with zeal and ability Dr. F. Steingass translated the remaining twenty-four Assemblies, and explained them with important and valuable notes. To the above a complete descriptive index has been added, and these two volumes, bound with the covers of the Oriental Translation Fund New Series, form the issue for 1898 in continuation of the works which have been annually published by the Fund since 1891.

Mr. Chenery’s introduction to the first volume (extending from pages 1 to 102) contains such a com­plete survey of the whole work that it is hardly neces­sary to add to it. But the contents of the second volume continue to show the wonderful subtleties, pliabilities, fertilities, boundless resources and extra­ordinary richness of the Arabic language. A careful perusal of the two volumes will fully bear out the generally-expressed opinion that, next to the Koran, the Assemblies of Ḥarîri are the most celebrated pro­duction of Arabic literature.

Throughout these Assemblies, as Chenery says in his notes at page 273, “Not only are verses of the Koran freely introduced, but the whole language is tinged with allusions to it, which are almost imperceptible to the European, but which are readily caught by a Moslem who knows the sacred work by heart.” In the same way there are many and constant allusions to Arab proverbs, which form a very valuable and instructive addition to the work. Every mention of them, and every allusion to the Koran, have been carefully noted in the index, and, though the references are numerous, it will enable the student or the enthusiast to go through the details of them without any difficulty. This also applies to other subjects, such as Traditions, Legends, Arab manners and customs, etc.

Dr. Steingass has completed his portion of the work under great physical difficulties. For some part of the time he was actually blind, and even after his recovery was obliged to be extremely cautious so as not to over­strain his eyesight. His Student’s Edition of the Arabic text of the Assemblies of Ḥarîri was published by Sampson Low, Marston and Co. in 1897, while his translation of the last twenty-four Assemblies follows in 1898.

One word about the transliteration from the Arabic of the second volume, regarding which Dr. Steingass was much concerned. Since 1867 considerable pro­gress has been made in this subject, and he was naturally anxious that the names of the people and the places as spelt by Mr. Chenery should be spelt in the style now generally in use. Consequently there was some difference between the transliteration of Mr. Chenery and Dr. Steingass, and it was necessary to decide how this matter should be dealt with.

For the sake of uniformity, it seemed both advisable and desirable that the names of people, places and things should be spelt in the second volume as in the first, and I insisted, much against Dr. Steingass’s wish, that this should be done. In this, then, the translitera­tion of the two volumes will be found to agree, and as regards the rest, Dr. Steingass has had a free hand. The difference between the spelling of the two transla­tors will be found in Appendix B at the end of the second volume.

The Index to the whole work is rather long, but it was absolutely necessary to give a short description of the various people who appear upon the scene, so that it might be understood at a glance who and what they were. This has been curtailed as much as possible, but further information about them can be obtained from the following works, translated for the Oriental Transla­tion Fund Old and New Series:

(1) Ibn Khallikán’s Biographical Dictionary (O.S.).

(2) Hajji Khalfeh’s Lexicon (O.S.).

(3) Mas’udi’s Historical Encyclopædia (O.S.)

(4) Tabari’s Chronicles (O.S.).

(5) Mirkhond’s “Rauzat-us-safa,” or “Garden of Purity” (N.S.).

The following works will also be found useful for reference.

(6) Hughes’ “Dictionary of Islâm” (W. H. Allen and Co., London, 1885).

(7) Sale, Rodwell, and Palmer’s Translations of the Koran.

(8) Freytag’s Translation of Arab Proverbs into Latin, in three volumes.

(9) Burton’s “Pilgrimage to Al - Madinah and Meccah” (Tylston and Edwards, London, 1893).

(10) “Arabic Authors” (William Heinemann, 1896).

Although thirty years have elapsed since Mr. Chenery published his valuable translation of the first twenty-six Assemblies of Ḥarîri, it is a matter of congratula­tion that the whole work has now been completed and indexed, and that it has been done into English and in England.

F. F. ARBUTHNOT. 22, Albemarle Street, London, W.