The Syriac Chronicle

as the Syrians are accustomed to do, the vowel points are not always placed on the letters to which they are due. Otherwise, if the reader discovers that the point customarily placed on the suffix of the third person feminine singular is omitted in not a few words, sees the periods and their parts cut less accurately in some places, or observes the ribui the pluralizing dots in Syriac points placed on words in which there is no notion of plurality, for example, on the preposition ܥܠܝܗ̇ upon her, or placed not on one letter as is customary, but on two, e.g., ܠܗܘܢ to them, let him remember that all these things are so in the manuscript.

The greatest part of the translation is owed to the most celebrated Bruns, and because it had been agreed between us that I would change nothing at all in his interpretation without his knowledge, let the reader know that I have religiously devoted all my effort so that, as I had received it from the praised man, it might appear in public in such a state, that is, untouched. What is read in the translation from the words on page 190: Because of the love of you, up to the words at the top of page 379, they fell in battle, I have interpreted into Latin. As the printers were intent with great ardor on completing the work, since it would have been unfair to ask the learned translator of this book that, having cast aside all other cares, he should be free for this one thing, he gave me the power of translating this part, regarding which I must only note that readers will find some diversity in the writing of proper names, which, however, can hardly delay anyone. I, for instance, followed the Arabic manner of pronunciation for ܢܘܪ ܐܠܕܝܢ Nur al-Din and other similar names, writing Nuroddinus; Bruns, whom I could not ask how he was going to write these, due to both the shortness of time and the distance, wrote Nuraldinus. Besides the Notes that were to be added to the part translated by me, I have also interpolated some of my own into the Brunsian Notes here and there.