An Oriental Biographical Dictionary

Excerpt from An Oriental Biographical Dictionary, Founded on Materials Collected by the Late Thomas William Beale The Society confided the labour of seeing the Dictionary through the press to their Philological Secretary, Principal Blochmann, of whose qualifications it would be presumptuous to say more than that they have an œcumenical reputation. That distinguished man (of whom it has been observed by Count von Noer that he united the enthusiasm of an artist to the most patient accuracy of research*) undertook the task with his characteristic earnestness and ability. But unhappily for oriental scholarship Mr. Blochmann's lamented death occurred before he had completed the preparation of more than a few sheets; and the duty ultimately reverted to the present Editor. The substance, as already stated, is almost entirely Mr. Beale's; and I cannot close this notice more fitly than by giving the following extract from the preface originally drafted by himself:- "In preparing a work of this nature, intended to be used as a work of reference on matters connected with Oriental Ilistory, it is proper to state that the greatest care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the narrative, as also in the dates of births, deaths, and other events recorded... Various Mss. have been collated whenever discrepancy was observed... To remove all doubt, chronograms indicating the dates with a certainty not to be found by any other method and written when the events were fresh in the minds of men, have been inserted, when available." I may, however, add that it has been judged expedient to omit these chronograms, for the most part, in printing the book. In the chapter of Mr. Dowson's book already cited, will be found an account of this species of memoria lechnica. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from An Oriental Biographical Dictionary, Founded on Materials Collected by the Late Thomas William Beale Rashid, the K_halifa of Baghdad, who bestowed her hand on Ja'far Barmaki, his minister, on condition that she abstained from the marriage rights. The promise was forgotten, and the husband's life was sacrificed by the tyrant, and 'abbasa was reduced to poverty. This circumstance took place in a.d. 803 (a.h. '1 here are still extant some Arabic verses which beautifully celebrate her love and her misfortunes. [see Ja'far ui-barmaki. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.