TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

This translation has been made to supply a need that has often been expressed to me. The Ikhwánu-s Safá original: "The Brethren of Purity," a 10th-century philosophical work originally in Arabic, later translated into Hindustani is a standard Hindustani work, which is used as a textbook both in India and England. Those who must prepare themselves for examinations in this subject are often placed in situations where no competent instruction can be obtained. A translation, therefore, that is at once accurate and exact—with which the student may compare and correct his own work—will undoubtedly prove to be a great help and advantage.

Since this is the object of the translation, I have maintained a close adherence to the text throughout, as strict as the necessity of making the English clear and intelligible would allow. Consequently, the version is not as smooth as it might have been made, but it will give the English reader a clear idea of the style and manner of the original.

When I commenced this work, I was not aware that any previous translation existed; however, there are at least three different versions. One, attributed to Mr. James Atkinson—the translator of parts of the Sháh-náma original: "The Book of Kings," the Persian national epic—was published in an Indian newspaper and reprinted in volume 28 of the Asiatic Journal for 1829. This translation is accurate and spirited, but it is imperfect, and for all practical purposes it—