PREFACE. 
xvi 
n e de ) züge gadzod ag 
id dege ged du gad gggdlegen deen 
« They say that in the whole world there is not any place 
* more delightful than these three; one, the Soghd of Samar 
« cand; another, the Rud-i-Aileh (or Ablah); and thirdly, the 
* Ghoutah of Damascus. 
The reader will find in page 237 of this work, that EBN 
HAUKAL prefers the Soghd of Samarcand (as in TABARI'S 
Chronicle, and ABULrEDa) to the rival Tempes, and de 
scribes those points in which its superior beauty consists. Why 
the Shaab Bouan has been omitted, I cannot pretend to have 
discovered*. The deplorable inaccuracy of Oriental tran 
scribers, as well as translators, has been so often noticed, that 
it is unnecessary for me to dwell on the difficulties attending 
Mosauiteb Sawoe Lsanavi, e Nehr Uboulsch in aikian feunr fornag . 
Basrah. 
* Similar omissions (though not so important) may be detected in other passages. EBN 
HAUKAL, as quoted by ABULFEDA, tells us, that the Hamyaritick inscription before 
mentioned in this Preface, was on the Gate of Kash at Samarcand.—Our Persian trans 
lator has omitted the name of the gate ; but we find, in some places, that he has retained 
more of EEN HAUKAL'S particular descriptions than ABULFEDA.