JOURNAL 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



As-Soyuti's work on Earthquakes, called * XLaJLaH uJL££ 



Jo*.**»k\ *)'J 01 t—A^5 Kashf as-Salsalah 'an was/ Az-zal- 

 zalah, i. e. removing the noise from the description of the Earth- 

 quakes, (or clearing up the description of Earthquakes. ) Translat- 

 ed from the Arabic by A. Sprenger, Esq. B. M. S. 



Jelal-ed-din as-Soyuti, an Egyptian polygrapher of some merit, died in a. h. 911. 

 He wrote this work on the occasion of an earthquake in Egypt, with a view of show- 

 ing to his countrymen by a number of traditions which have been omitted in this 

 translation, that earthquakes are ordained by God to punish men for their sins. At the 

 same time the author wished to console them by showing them from history, that 

 much more frightful punishments of this kind had taken place than the one under 

 which they suffered in his time. This translation has been made from an Arabic 

 MS. of the Royal Library at Paris, (fonds Asselin N. 218)which is neither very correct 

 nor legible. A better copy is preserved in the library at Gotha. This translation, 

 was not made with the view that it should ever be published, but it was merely intended 

 as a sort of a hasty memorandum for the translator, it will therefore probably not stand 

 the criticism of the philologist, though the student of Natural Philosophy may rely, 

 that the facts are in general correctly rendered into English. — A. S. 



It would appear that this is the original of the Persian work known amongst the na- 

 tive literati of the Western Provinces, by the name of ' Zelzele Namah,' for which enqui- 

 ry was made sometime agoby Lieut. Baird Smith. See Proceedings of Nov. 1842, Vol. xi, 

 p. 1201. Upon our mentioning it to Dr. Sprenger, he expressed this opinion, and has been 

 kind enough to place this curious little Treatise at our disposal for the Journal. — Eds. 



A, H. 94. On the 20th of Adar (March) an earthquake in Syria, 

 which lasted forty days. Many buildings were destroyed in Antiochia. 



98. Again for forty days, during the Khalifat of Omar Ben Abdul- 

 aziz, in Syria. 



No. 141. New Series, No. 57- 5 e 



