and back from that to the body of the work. This, however, is a difficulty
which could not in- all cafes be remedied. Where the cuftoms of
different countries areat all analogous, the language of e^ch ■ yvill of coqrfe
contain fynonymous terms for expreffing the fame ideas. Where, on the
contrary, cuftoms, laws? °X modes of thinking, prevail in one country
totally different from any thiqg to be found in the other, no modes of
expreffion that could be adopted in the language pf either would fuffice to
exprefs, with precifion, the meaning of technical or local terms ufed in
the other. This fcience, moreover, has in every country its peculiar
phrafes, which will not bear ^ny very intelligible tranflafipn, whence the
neceffity of adopting and retaining them in their original form,— an obfer-
vatian the truth of yffiich maybe perceived. by calling ap. eye over any
one page in any one of our own law-books, The,' tranflator, therefore.,.
has found himfelf under an unavoidable neceffity o f oecafionally
retaining the original terms, without at tempting-any tranflation of them,
— taking care, at the fame time, to refer, in the. Index, to. the definition
of them, which is invariably to be found in fjbme part of the work 5
— making it, however, a general rule, to .exprefs in Englijh every term
capable o f a technical or intelligible tranflatipn.-rrlt is proper to remark
that, in the orthography of thefe Arabic terms, there fometimcs occurs
a flight variation, which in a work o f fuch extent it was not eafy always
to avoid. Thu s, inflead of Tàlhâ, (a man’s name,) we have, in one
place, Telliha ; and, in five or fix inflances, Deeyat is ufed for Deyit,
(the fine of blood.) Wherever this variation occurs, it is reftified by a
reference, in the Index but there are not above three or four inflances ■
in which this is necelfery. It is alfo to bp obferved that, in the ufe of
the Arabic perfonal nouns, attention mull be paid to the termination, which
in à always denotes the feminine gender. Thus Hirbee means an alien,’
Hirbeea an- alipn 'woman.’, Zimrqey an infidel fubjefit of the MuJJkJman government,,
and Zirnmeea a fepiple infidel fubjefl ; and fo o f the reft, except
Mufslimà, (a ferpafe Mohammedan,) which is, derived from: Mojlim,
(a conjider, or a pprfon in a ftate of fafaatiqn,'), a term generally ^qualified
by the charadleriftip termination in cm,— whence Mvjliwàn, or (according
to the vulgar orthography) Mnjfulmçm,
As
As- a G lossary, if confined within any tolerable limits, would very
imperfectly exprefs the meaning o f the various law-terms and phrafes, or,
i f giving the definition o f them, would contain merely a repetition of what
is already fet forth in the body of the work, the Tranflator has in this
inftance hazarded a new mode, by introducing all thofe terms in a fiipple-
plementary Index, with a reference to their place in the text. He has
alfo, for the fatisfaftion of the Orientalift, and in order to remedy the
defeats o f the European alphabet, (which, at beft, e-xprefies Arabic words
but very imperfectly,) inferted, in that Index, each term or proper name
in its original character.
T o promote, as much as pbffible, the beneficial ends intended -by this
•work, the Tranflator has in various places added Each notes as appeared necef-
fary to clear away ambiguities and obfcurities in the te x t; and he has
alfo annexed a marginal abJlraB, which gives the fubjlance of the law,
unencumbered by the long details of reafoning which generally accompany
it.— T o the whole is affixed a copious I ndex, defigned to be ufefnl in
three refpefts, by referring, I. to legal conclufions, II. to the general
heads or subjects, and, III. to rules which occur (as it were)
incidentally, involved in the reaforiings upon other matter.— As each
volume has alfo prefixed to it a table o f contents, the. references are fo
much broken and divided, that the reader can never be at a lofs to fatisfy
himfelf upon any particular point which duty or curiofity may prompt
him to inveftigate.— It may be proper to remark that the marginal ab-
ftraft, the notes at bottom, and the Index, form no part of the original
work, which has only a general table of contents.
In one particular, and in one alone, has the tranflator conceived himfelf
at liberty to defeit his te x t; namely, by a total omijfton of particular
paffages, for reafons which are affigned in their proper place. .Thefe
reafbns generally are, either that the paflage relates folely to certain rules
o f Arabic grammar, which therefore do not admit o f an intelligible tranflation
into another language, or contains merely ingenious fophifms, fb
exceedingly futile as to be o f no ufe.— O f this lajl reafon abundance of
examples are ftill retained!------ It will, however, in moft of thefe be
V ol. I. g found