26 Contributions to Persian Lexicography. \J$o. 1, 



the harness of a horse suits far better. I am at a loss to see why 

 Rashidi has omitted to make a remark on the third meaning. 

 Sururi, as I said above, passes in silence over meanings which he thinks 

 wrong or unsupported. The Siraj has — 

 &ij cU-* >-*«l (jtfj-t /♦■&*> J 8***** «-aJU ^>j9 j Jji^^ jh J . p ti«j f 



* i^..«s| *I$J j ^,jj j i^ikUo j &+S.A/0 f£>yQ (_5 A **^ n)U**yii li>i?^ uA^-wjf 



Thus we see that Burhan's form ulL»j| ostdn is to be struck out as 

 unsupported, and that the meaning a threshold, as given in the FJ., 

 is not proved. 



The author of the Siraj says in his preface as follows :— 



" As far as the correctness of meanings and the explanation of 

 difficult passages are concerned, no dictionary comes up to the Farhang 

 i Rashidi, whilst the Burhan has certainly the merit of being the 

 completest vocabulary existing. But in both dictionaries there are 

 erroneous statements ; especially so in the Burhan, which is full of 

 wrong meanings and spellings, as shall be seen below. To correct 

 them is the only object of this dictionary. Hence I have not repeated 

 the examples which are given in the FJ., Sur. and R. 



" Whilst I was writing this dictionary, I obtained a MS. copy of a 

 work written by a Persian savant whose name is Majduddin 'All, 

 poetically styled Qusi. His book, although it is not known, contains 

 many critical gems ; and I have thought best to add them to my own 

 remarks. Beside this MS. copy, I have used the FJ., Sur., R., Mu., 

 B., the Farhang i Munisi, the Kashf, some commentaries on the 

 Gulistan, the Masnawi i Maulawi, &c. My friend Sayyid Muhammad 

 Masih Khan expressed the tdrihh of the compilation of this book by 

 calling it 



which will be found to give A. H. 1147, [or A. D. 1734-5]. I have 

 followed the order of the words as adopted by B. and R., because it 

 is by far the best system of arrangement."* 



* I cannot give the Persian text, as the copy of the Siraj in my hands is too 



faulty. 



