185C] Origin and progress of writing down historical facts. 303 



JEnglish. 

 You are, 



Juanga. 

 Ramde masike lokera, 



I am, 



To give, 

 To come, 



Aynde asike. 

 Dinkee mintuk. 

 Mendeldul koa 



Togo, 



Heena daee. 



Mother, 

 Father, 



Byee. 

 Baa. 



On the origin and progress of writing down historical facts among 

 the Musalmans. — By Dr. A. Sprenger. 



There has been a time, when every Arabic, Persian or Turkish 

 work containing the history of MoAammad and of his successors, 

 or any part of the history of the East — even if it referred to the 

 antediluvian period — was considered as a source of information, the 

 authenticity of which was above all doubt or question. It is super- 

 fluous to show how uncritical such a proceeding is, and how much, 

 wiser it would be for the historian to leave blanks in the chronicles 

 of this world, than to fill them up with such uncertain materials. 

 I believe, I was the first writer who attempted to submit the sources 

 of the biography of the prophet of the Arabians, to a critical enquiry, 

 in my Life of Mo7*ammad, Allahabad, 1851. The nature of the book 

 did not enable me to enter so fully upon the subject, as it appeared 

 to me to be necessary, nor was I then in possession of the materials 

 which I required for the purpose. Since then, it has been my good 

 fortune to be able to make a more complete collection of works 

 bearing on this subject, and on cognate matters than there exists 

 any where else, and it is therefore, in my power to throw light on 

 some of the details connected therewith, which I then considered 

 to be involved in great and hopeless obscurity. 



The first question which a philosopher would ask of an Arabist 

 who talks of original works on the biography of Mo/tainmad, is pro- 

 bably this : When was the first biography written ? He would 

 answer, that the earliest work which we possess is that of Ibn IsAaq, 

 who died 141 years after Mohammad. An age in which a religion 



