The name of the author is Muhammad Qásim ibn i Hájí Muhammad of Káshán in Irán. Surúrí is his takhalluç. The author is also known as a poet and a commentator; his Arabic commentary on Sa'di's Gulistán deserves attention. The first edition of the dictionary which appeared in A. H. 1008, or A. D. 1600, is based upon sixteen dictionaries, including the Adát, the Sharafnámah, and the Muayyid, but is considerably smaller than the second edition which appeared thirty years later in 1038. Those who make use of Surúrí must carefully ascertain, whether they have before themselves the first or the second edition, as MSS. of both exist. This seems to have been overlooked by the Burhán. Though a very careful compiler and professing to have used Surúrí, Burhán does not give all words and meanings that are in the second edition of the Majmaʼulfurs. The MSS. of the second edition contain two prefaces. preface which commences with the verse (Hazaj i musaddas)

The second

بود اهل تتبع را ضروری کتاب مجمع الفرس سروری

May the Majma'ulfurs of Surúrí be indispensable to critical compilers," is very short, and stands in the MSS. which I have seen, before the original preface. Surúrí's second edition was caused by the appearance of the Farhang i Jahángírí, a copy of which, as late as in 1038, was brought to Surúrí from Hindústán. From it, as also from two other dictionaries, Surúrí has largely extracted. From the respectful manner in which he speaks of the Farhang, we might conclude that he lay under certain obligations to its author. must have known him; else he would not call him

He

نواب معلى القاب شوکت و ابهت مآب عظمت و حشمت انتساب سلطنت و

امارت ایاب سیادت و نقابت قباب شاه جمال الدين حسين الجو.

-titles fit for a king.

He passes in silence over the blunders of the Farhang; and if on two or three places he dares openly to differ in the meaning of a word, he modestly says

و بخاطر این ضعیف میرسد که این معنی خالی از تکافی نیست

or words to this effect, although he would not so easily let off other authors.

Future compilers of Persian dictionaries will do well carefully to compare each word given in the Farhang with the same in Surúrí, and remember that whenever Surúrí has left out a meaning or a whole word given by the Farhang, there is, to use Rashidi's language,

جای تأمل

Surúrí seems to have been acquainted with Turkish, as he mentions among his sources two dictionaries written in that language. The quotations are very numerous. As Surúrí is an Iránian, his spellings and pronunciations differ occasionally from the Túrání Persian of the preceding Indian lexicographists. His adherence to the Jis and Jis rule has been mentioned. Instead of a final kúf, he gáf; thus he writes

ashg a tear,

sirishga

asb.

often has a drop, instead of ashk, &c. Instead of asp he writes His arrangement of the words is inconvenient, as it is the same as in the Madár.

Surúrí appears to have died in Hindústán during the reign of Shahjahán, as will be seen from the following extract from the khátimah of the valuable work Mir-át ul 'Alam; vide Morley's Catalogue of Historical MSS., p. 52:

سروری اصفهانی در عهد فردوس آشياني بهند آمده . بعد از چندے متوجه بیت الله گردیده در راه وفات یافت . مجمع الفرس که به فرهنگ سروری اشتهار دارد از مؤلفات اوست . او راست

. بيت .

يتيم و خونی و از سر گذشته بترسید از سرشگ من که باشد

"Surúrí of Içfahán came to Hindústán during the reign of Shah"jahán. Soon after he left for Mecca, but died on the road. The "Majma'ulfurs, so famous under the name of Farhang-i-Surúri, is "written by him. The following verse is taken from his poems (metre Hazaj):*—

Içfahán is a mistake for Káshán. The verse is a fine example of the poetical figure called miles thám uttanósub; vide Garcin de Tassy's La Rhétorique des Nations Musulmanes, p. 101. Poets compare their tears to orphans, because both are uncared for and alone. Orphans grow up to be thieves and murderers (); hence Yatim means also the same

خوني

or

as

and flow from the eyes, خون آلوده

rahzan. But tears also are (j), whilst robbers are daring and unmindful of their lives,

) نیروا از سرخود ندارند یعنی از سر خود میگذرند )

"Fear my tear; for it is a wicked orphan, a tyrant, a reckless one."

MSS. of Surúri's dictionary are scarce; the excellent MS. preserved in the Fort William College Library was bought at the high price of Rs. 100.

The first. مجمع جميع لغات فرس means مجمع الفرس The title

edition was dedicated to Sultán Abul Muzaffar 'Abbás Bahádur Khán, king of Persia.

مجمع اللغات خاني .9

This dictionary was compiled at Delhi in A. H. 1053, or A. D. 1643, by Ni'matullah al Husainí of Shíráz. His takhalluç is wagli. In his preface he praises Nawwáb Makramat Khán, a vizier of Shahjahán, to whom the word refers. The author has not specified his sources; but on examination it will be found that the dictionary is almost the same as the second edition of Surúrí, somewhat shortened, with a few meanings from the Farhang i Jahángírí. The introduction contais a small Persian grammar likewise copied from the Farhang. The book is a fine example of wholesale plagiarism, and is therefore deservedly but little known. MSS. are very rare; the MS. of our Society, No. 304, is very fair.

The arrangement of the words is the same as in Surúrí. Vullers' F. occasionally quotes this dictionary, as under

برهان قاطع 10

z.

This Dictionary is well known. The first edition was printed in 1818 at Calcutta by Captain Roebuck, and the third and last, with a few corrections, in 1834 by Hakim 'Abdul Majid. The name of the compiler is Muhammad Husain of Tabríz; Burhán is his takhalluç. He completed the dictionary in A. D. 1652, or A. H. 1063, as

and dedicated it to a کتاب نافع برهان قاطع indicated by the tarikh

contemporary of Shahjahán, Sultán 'Abdullah Quṭbsháh of the Dekkhan, where for a time he must have lived. Hence he prefers Dekhan synonyms; thus under he says:

آن را از درون ني هندی بر می آورند که بانبو باشد !! از میان نی هندی که آنرا بانس و بنبو گویند برآید-where the FJ. has

Burhan's object was to compile a practical vocabulary without giving examples. In adopting the order of words as followed in our dictionaries, he arranged them more conveniently than any preceding

lexicographer had done. Nearly all subsequent dictionaries follow Burhan's arrangement. His sources were the FJ., the first edition of Sur., the Surmah i Sulaimání and the Çiháh uladwiyah. MSS. of the last two are not obtainable here; but they cannot be very valuable, as the Burhán contains nothing which is not in the Farhang or Surúrí. Burhán is a careful compiler; only a few words that are given in the Farhang, appear to have been omitted. As an example I may mention & pakhtah cotton, which the Farhang gives

If Burhan had omitted the useless meanings با اول مفتوح پنبه باشد

of the Farhang, his compilation would be more useful than it is.

The printed editions of Capt. Roebuck and Hakim 'Abdul Majid are accompanied by appendices of words not given in the Burhán. These appendices which are known under the name of us lo

Mulhaqát i Burhún, are not written by Burhán, nor are they found in numerous MSS. of the dictionary; but were made under the direction of Capt. Roebuck from the works of several lexicographers of the 18th and even of the beginning of the 19th century. They are untrustworthy and full of the most glaring blunders. Vullers has embodied them; but we trust that no lexicographer after him will use them. Whatever good they contain, will be found in the original dictionaries written after Burhán.

Burhan's dictionary has produced in India a good deal of critical discussion. During this decade, a book was printed in Delhi, written by Asad ullah Khán, known also under the name of Mirzá Naushah and, as a poet, under the takhalluç of . The author is the best. Persian writer which India now-a-days possesses. We have from his pen a collection of letters, called is, a Díwán, a historical book

on Indian kings, entitled, and also a book written in preclassical Persian on the Indian mutiny of 1857, entitleds. The name of the book in which he attacks Burhán, has the title

. It has seriously damaged his reputation as a critical scholar. Throughout the book he is abusive, and even obscene.

sented as an independent lexicographer, although Burhán in his preface

-is throughout repre این مرد الکنی or دکھنی Burhan whom he styles

Hence .فقير جامع لغات و تابع ارباب لغت است نه واضع distinctly says

most of Ghalib's attacks are easily refuted by turning up the Farhang or Surúrí. But his book is also full of wilful misstatements, whilst

some of his etymologies are even from a native point of view unscholarlike. He has been well taken to task by Aghá Ahmad 'Alí, of Dacca, one of the Persian teachers of the Calcutta Madrasah. His reply is entitled Muayyid i Burhán, and was printed two years ago at Calcutta. The writer shews a spirit of critical enquiry and scientific truthfulness, which is but rarely met with in native writers. Some of his articles, as,,, &c., are well worth reading. An index has lately been added by the author. Future lexicographers will do well to obtain a copy of this book.

From a perusal of this reply, it appears that of the four hundred words which Ghalib attacked, about thirty are Burhan's own blunders, and sixty others must be called doubtful words, because they are given in the Farhang and Surúrí without proof. Several other mistakes have been discovered by the author of the Siráj (vide below); but on the whole, the number of mistakes. made by Burhan himself is so small, as not to endanger his reputation of a careful compiler. A few were also corrected by Capt. Roebuck in the foot notes of his printed edition. Ghalib's rejoinder which appeared in 1867 under the title, is a mistake. tries in vain to shift the ground by discussing extraneous matter, and thinks to defeat his opponent by giving on the last page of his books the seals and facsimiles of several influential men, even Nawabs, living at present at Delhi, who, he says, agree with his statements. Aghá's second rejoinder, entitled Shamshér i téztar, is in the press. MSS. of the Burhán are numerous. There exists also a Turkish translation of it..

He

The

فرهنگ رشیدی .11

This is the first critical dictionary. It stands unsurpassed. The name of the author is Mullá 'Abdurrashid of Tattah ( ‹Ã ̧3 ) in Sind. Other lexicographers, especially the writer of the Bahár i 'Ajam, call him all day da. He completed his dictionary in A. D. 1653, or A H. 1064, as shewn by the táríkh (metre Ramal)

باد فرهنگ رشيدي مقبول گشت تاریخ وی از روی قبول

The author is well known as the compiler of the Muntakhab, the most popular Arabic dictionary in India, which in 1635 he had dedicated to Shahjahan. When the Persian Dictionary appeared, the