The Manuscripts.—The only copy of this text that I have seen in Europe is Code Sabéen 16 in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Berlin has no copy, and as both Lidzbarski and Nöldeke quote from the Paris MS., it was, apparently, the only copy to which they had access. It, however, has not all the texts which compose the miscellany, as I found when I compared it with the rolls in my possession; for, like most of the longer Mandæan books, the Alf Trisar Šuialia is not a single composition, but a collection of writings or fragments under the title of one of the texts incorporated. I have two copies of the roll, and in both the first part of the text has suffered through much recopying. The outer convolutions of a roll suffer more from wear and tear than the inner, and hence one rarely finds an old MS. roll that does not show traces of dilapidation and repair in the earlier portion. When reed huts catch fire, an accident which often occurs, the outer layers alone become charred, as the fire dies down quickly, and the smouldering roll is easily rescued from the ashes.

People disagree about [the propriety of] singing (ghinā). And most of the people of Al-Ḥijāz permit it, whilst most of the people of Al-'Irāq abhor it. And one argument of those who permit it is that it has its origin in poetry, [an art] which the Prophet (May Allāh bless him and give him peace) commended; he incited to it, and urged his Companions to it, and found help in it against the unbelievers. And he said to Ḥassān [ibn Thabit, d. 674], “Pour out [an incitement to] the raid upon the Banū 'Abd Manāf for, by Allāh, your poetry is more potent against them than the falling of arrows in the utter darkness of the late night.” And it [i.e. poetry], is the register (dīwān) of the Arabs, and declares their precepts, and is the witness of their noble actions.

While in New York City in 1939, I purchased an Armenian MS. with most unusual Mongolian miniatures. The MS., now part of my collection, has been rebound crudely with the remains of an old oriental binding consisting of wooden boards covered with leather. The inside of the binding is lined with brown cotton print covered with a small design. The MS. has 109 leaves, each measuring 10 by 15 inches. Upon examining the text, paper, and script, we find that the present volume is composed of two different Armenian MSS. jumbled together without any consideration of the fact that the text materials are unrelated. Pages 2, 3, 4, 41, 52–70, and 83–96 are fragments of an Haismāvourk (Life of Martyrs) written about 1630, perhaps in New Djulfa (Isfahan, Persia) for the Armenian princemerchant Khodja Nazar, his son Khodja Safraz and their family. Although this part of the volume is very valuable and important, it is not of primary interest to us.