This is the first instalment of what I hope will eventually be a complete text and translation of the Matlmawi in six volumes, of which the first, third, and fifth are to contain the Persian text, while the second, fourth, and sixth are reserved for the English translation. To look furthei‘ ahead, two or three volumes of com- mentary will be required in order to make the text and translation fully intelligible; and there should also be an introductory volume dealing with the life and times of Jal:ilu’ddin Rtimi and with the linguistic, literary, historical, doctrinal and other aspects of the poem as a whole. It appears that a corrected text of Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi, with French translation and notes, was ready for publication in 1799.
Al Mathnawi demands thought and intelligence from those who study it, and they on their part have the right to expect that its meaning shall not be obscured by doubts as to orthography and syntax, due to omission of the izafat, absence of vowels, and the fact that ii is not distinguished from For example, in these editions if, besides its ordinary uses as a pronoun and conjunction, represents five separate words, namely, 4?, straw, Z, time, Q little, ii mountain and :6, dung; and it may occur, with different meanings, twice or thrice in the same verse.