18(38.] Contributions to Persian Lexicorjrapliy. . 21 



king was the prisoner of his perfidious son Aurangzib, for whom 

 Rashidi has no words of praise ; for at that time Aurangzib had not 

 acquired that odour of sanctity which pious Muhammadans acknow- 

 ledge by a &JJ| *+-=>-j, a ji^ ^s^d never bestowed upon any of the 

 preceding Moguls. 



There exists also a rare Risalah written by 'Abdurrashid, entitled 



<»)[jyuo &)Laj, He was certainly one of the best scholars Hindustan has 

 produced. His Persian dictionary, though less known, cannot be too 

 highly valued ; it is so full of original research, that no Persian scholar 

 ought to be without a Rashidi. As a compiler 'Abdurrashid is most 

 careful ; he rarely copies doubtful words from other dictionaries without 

 removing the doubt ; and when he is unable to do so, he plainly states 

 that he does not know the word, or adds a o**o| (J/°l3 ^L*. ^j! j or a 

 Jlc| adJij. Nor does he hastily condemn. If he has reason to condemn, 

 his proofs are convincing. He does not abuse the preceding lexicogra- 

 phers ; and when he does call the authors of the Farhang and Sururi 

 <Jili gliafil, we expect from the nature of the case a stronger epithet. 



The arrangement of the words is the same as in the B urban, 

 although it does not appear, as if he had known that book. He chose 

 that arrangement, because from experience he was satisfied that it 

 was the best. The figurative phrases are given at the end of each 

 fagl. Rashldi has not specified his sources. Nor was this necessary, 

 as his sole object was to correct the Farhang and Sururi, which he 

 acknowledges to be the best dictionaries existing. Occasionally he 

 quotes a book written by, or entitled, ^yULw. Its author is not 

 known to me, but his remarks are so shrewd, that lexicographers 

 would do well to secure a Samani, The book must have been written 

 after Suriiri's second edition. From some of his remarks it appears 

 that Rashidi was acquainted with Roman Catholic ceremonies. This 

 may be traced to the fact that his birthplace was for some time in 

 the hands of the Portuguese. 



The following passage taken from Rashidf's preface defines the 

 object of the dictionary and gives at the same time an idea of its 

 usefulness — 



^y.SW &.S O.JjS^/0 (^.A.La. ^jiijf ^JliVI L£ ki.-^,S J \ jj.S.k)\ &*£■ ^1 &\.w J\ &££ 



