viii EXPLANATORY NOTE madan to the Gregorian calendar. As regards the former, it may be noted that throughout the MSS. there is a continuous confusion between J iind e.

5. It is not enough merely to compare the genealogical trees and neglect the text, because several persons or tribes, whose names occur in the text, are not entered in the trees owing to their relationship to the main stock not being specifically defined.

6. In common parlance the forms " Ga'aliin," " 'Arakiin," etc. are used in all cases instead of the grammatically correct forms " Ga'aliyyun," " 'Arakiyyun," etc. In the MSS. sometimes one form and sometimes the other is used, independently of the grammatical construction. For the sake of consistency I have used, in translating the MSS., the form ending in -iyyun throughout.

7. The paragraphs have been numbered by the translator for the purpose of reference.

Note The three trees following Chapter i of Part II illustrate the genealogical connections between the Arabian tribes to which reference is frequent in Part IV. Thus, when there is a reference to Wiistenfeld's Register in the notes, recourse may be had to these trees, which are compiled from that work, and the introductory note which precedes them in Vol. i, p. 154.