THE text for the following translation has been prepared mainly from the MSS. and lithographed texts of the India Office Library, both of which, by the liberality of the Indian Government, can be borrowed by the student for use at home. Amongst these MSS. there is one especially remarkable both for its correctness and good writing—two qualities which are often not found together.
The Commentary is entirely my own, since I have found no notes of any importance either in the MSS. or the lithographed texts used. As a matter of fact, separate MSS., which might contain notes, I have not seen; whilst MSS. and lithographs of the collected works seldom, if ever, contain any. Of separate lithographed texts I have seen only a few, and in these the sparse notes are of the most trifling description. In fact, such notes are seldom of any value, unless written as a regular commentary by scholars of established reputation.
The system of transliteration adopted is as follows:—
| ’ | = | when a consonant. | |
| t | = | the soft dental. | |
| s | = | (in Arabic quotations as “th” in “thin”). | |
| j | = | as in “jar”. | |
| ch | = | as in “church”. | |
| ḥ | = | a deeply sounded “h”. | |
| kh | = | the German “ch”. | |
| d | = | the soft dental. | |
| ẕ | = | (in Arabic quotations transliterated “dh” for “th” in “this”). | |
| z | = | ||
| zh | = | the “s” in “pleasure”. | |
| ṣ | = | a hard palatal “s”. | |
| ẓ | = | (in Arabic “ḍ”, a hard palatal “d”). | |
| ṭ | = | a hard palatal “t”. | |
| z | = | (in Arabic generally pronounced “z”, but sometimes “ḍ”, or “th” as in “this”). | |
| ‘ | = | a guttural not found in European languages. | |
| gh | = | something like “r, grasséyée”. | |
| q | = | a guttural “k”, but now pronounced as “gh”. | |
| g | = | always hard. | |
| ṃ | = | when pronounced as “m”. | |
| v | = | in Arabic and Urdu “w”. | |
| v | = | unpronounced, as in “khvāstan”, pronounced “khāstan”. | |
| ẉ | = | when unpronounced in Arabic, as in “‘Amrw”, pronounced “‘Amr”. | |
| h | = | ||
| a | = | generally a sound between “a” in “can” and “u” in “jug”. | |
| i | = | generally sounded as “e” in “ten”. | |
| u | = | as “u” in “bull”. | |
| ā | = | when a long vowel, and is sounded as in “ball”. | |
| á | = | at the end of Arabic words, and |
|
| ū | = | when a long vowel, as “u” in “rule”. | |
| ī | = | when a long vowel, as “i” in “machine”. | |
| au | = | as “au” in German “auch”, but now pronounced as “o” in “no”, and sometimes even as “ū”. | |
| ai | = | “ai” in “gait” (in Urdu; and in Arabic and Turkish after a hard consonant, as “i” in “fire”). |
In addition to the above vowel sounds, Turkish has the French “u”, and “eu”, and a sound like “i” in “fir”. These may be represented by “ü”, “ö” or “eu”, and “y̆” respectively.
In conclusion, I have pleasure in offering a tribute of gratitude to my friend the Publisher, whose exceptional enterprise, energy, and enlightened appreciation afford a hopeful guarantee for the success of the work.
I have also to thank Messrs. Austin for the care they have taken in the printing of a work requiring great and particular exactitude.