ACCOUNTS, &;C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 19 



II. — Acq uisitionx. 

 The number of M88. acquired in LSSl) was 400, viz., 8!)2 by purchase and eijvht by 



nnn.f.inn ns fnllnwt; • — 



Arabic ------- gci 



Pali -------- 10 



Persian ------- <) 



Hebrew ------- 7 



Turkish ------- 5 



Ethiopic -------- 3 



Coptic ------- 1 



Syriac - - - - _ . j 



Armenian ---._. | 



Burmese ------- 1 



Lolo -------- 1 



Total - - - 400 



The most important acquisition of the year was the collection formed in San'a and 

 some unexplored parts of Yemen, by the Austrian traveller. Dr. Eduard Glaser. 

 It consists of 328 Arabic M8S., with dates ranging from the eleventh to the present 

 century, and represents a branch of Arabic literature hitherto quite unknown in 

 Europe, and hardly known in the East beyond the limits of Southern Arabia, being 

 the literature of the Zaidites, who form an independent branch of the 8hT'ah Sect. 

 The Zaidites take their name from Imam Zaid, son of Imam Zain al-'Abidln, and, 

 consequently, great-grandson of Ali. It was in his life-time (he died A.H. 122) that 

 the schism of the Shi'ah took place, part of them declaring for Zaid, while the larger 

 number proclaim.ed his brother, Muhammad Bakir. 



Unlike the main body of the ShT'ah, who recognise only twelve Imams, the 

 Zaidites hold that there must be at all times a living Imam, chosen as the fittest and 

 most worthy among the descendants of Ali. They had, in fact, an unbroken 

 succession of such Imams, who settling in the highlands of Yemen, and combining 

 temporal power with spiritual authority, maintained for centuries, with fitful success, 

 some measure of political independence, and opposed a stout resistance to the Turkish 

 invaders. 



Their peculiar system of divinity and law has been set forth in standard works, 

 written, for the most part, by the Imams themselves, which, together with their 

 numerous commentaries, form the main bulk of the Glaser collection. The principal 

 of these works are, in chronological order, as follows : — 



Al-Muntakhab by Imam al-Hadi Yahya B. al-Husain, who died a.m. 298 ; MS. of 

 the 13th century. 



Decision on points of doctrine and law, by the Imams al-Murtada, who died 

 A.H. 310, and Tarjuman al-DTn al-Kasim, who died a.m. 393; MS. of A.H. 479; a.d. 

 1086. 



Al-TahrTr by Imam al-Natik, who died A.H. 424; MS. of A.H. .i.i8 ; A.D. 1163. 



Al-Intisar, a work of considerable extent, in which the doctrines and legal decisions 

 of the Imams are set forth and defended against other sects, by Imam al-Muayyad- 

 billah, who died a.h. 747; eight volumes, mostly of the 14th century. 



Al-Tadkirat al-Frdihirah, a manual of law, by the FakTh Sharaf al-Din Hasan al- 

 Nahwi, a contemporary of the preceding Imam ; with numerous commentaries. 



Al-Azhar, a text-book of Zaidi law, by Imam al-Mahdi, who died A.H. 840 ; with 

 many commentaries. 



Al-Bahr al-Zakhkhar, a full exposition of the Zaidi system of theology and law, 

 by the same Imam. 



Ghayat al-Afkar, an extensive commentary upon the preceding work by its 

 author. 



Of many works dealing with the history of the Imams of the Zaidites, the follow- 

 ing may be specially mentioned : — 



Al-Risalat al-Nasihah, a poetical account of the Imams, by Imam al-Mansur 

 'Abdallah, who died A.H. 613 ; with an historical commentary. 



A Kasidah addressed by the same Imam to the Khalif of Baghdad, in commemora- 

 tion of the Imams, with a full commentary, entitled Mahasin al-Azluir, by Humaid 

 al-Muhalli. 



Yawaklt al-Siyar, a general history of the Imams by Imam al-Man.^ir Ahmad, who 



died A.H. 840. 



Al-Hada'ik al-Wardiyyah, a detailed history of the Imams brought down to the 

 same period, by Humaid al-Muhalli ; in two volumes. _ 



Al-Bas.samat al-Kubra, a poetical record of the Imams brought down to_ A.H. 849, 

 with a full historical commentary and continuation by IbrehTm Ibu al-WazTr. 



Bughyat al-Murid, an account of the Imrims of Yemen brought down to the 

 eleventh century of the Hijrah, by 'Amir B. Muhammad. 



Simt al-La'al fi Shi'r al-Al, a collection of the poetical compositions of the Imams, 



0.74, c 2 with 



