XI

Is faith, which has never been better described than as * the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen/

While this volume was going through the press, there
came the sad news of the death of the esteemed translator of
it. Mr. Edward Rehatsek died in Bombay on December 11,
1.891, aged 72. He arrived in India the beginning of
December, 1847, and had therefore completed a residence
of forty-four years in that country without ever leaving it.
I hiring the whole of that period he was constantly engaged
in studying Oriental languages and Oriental literature,
translating works from various languages, writing articles
for newspapers, reviews, magazines and journals, and pre-
paring papers for learned societies.

Space will not permit of giving here a detailed list of his
many writings on many subjects. It is to be hoped, how-
over, that this will be prepared in time, and published
perhaps in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, so that it vill be possible to be able to refer to
much interesting matter now spread over a large surface.
Such an account of his literary life and work will show that
lie wan both intelligent and intellectual, and endowed with
the qualities of patience, perseverance, and industry, to an
extraordinary degree.

Here it will be sufficient to state that for the Oriental
Translation Fund New Series he had completed and for-
warded translations of the following works:

(1) * The Nigarist&n, or Picture Gallery/ by Muin-uddin
Jawlnl, JuB. 1834; considered by many to be superior to
Sa'di's * Gulistftn, or Rose Garden.' [Not yet printed.]

(2) ' Biography of our Lord Muhammad, the Apostle of
Allah/ according to the tradition of Ibn Hish&m, obtained
from Ibn IsMk; the best and most trustworthy life of the
prophet now existing, and written during the eighth century
jux [Not yet printed.]

(8) The whole of the first two parts of Mirkhond's
1 General History/
Of the last-mentioned work, this volume completes the