4

The Arabic Text.--Only two Arabic mss. are known to exist. Ciasca tells us (p. xiv.) that he took as the basis of his text that ms. which is more careful in its orthography, the Cod. Vat. Arab. No. 14. He, however, printed at the foot of the page the variants of the other ms., and supplied from it two lacunae in the Cod. Vat., ¹ substituted its readings for those of the Cod. Vat. where he thought them preferable, and followed its testimony in omitting two important passages. ² Here and there Ciasca has emended the text, but he does not profess to have produced a critical edition. ³