The present book does not profess to be a Biographical Dictionary. The great work of Ibn Khallikan, translated into English by Slane, supplies this. But short biographical notices of persons connected with the early history of Islam have been given, inasmuch as many of these persons are connected with religious dogmas and ceremonies; the martyrdom of Husain, for instance, as being the foundation of the Muharram ceremonies; Abu Hanifah, as connected with a school of jurisprudence; and the Khalifah `Umar as the real founder of the religious and political power of Islam. In the biographical notice of Muhammad, the Author has expressed his deep obligations to Sir William Muir's great work, the Life of Mahomet. It is impossible for anyone to write upon the subject of Muhammadanism without being largely indebted, not only to Sir William Muir's books, but also to the works of the late Mr. Lane, the author of Modern Egyptians, new editions of which have been edited by Mr. Stanley Lane Poole. Numerous quotations from these volumes will be found in the present work. But whilst the Author has not hesitated in this compilation to avail himself of the above and similar works, he has, during a long residence amongst Muhammadan peoples, been able to consult very numerous Arabic and Persian works in their originals, and to obtain the assistance of very able Muhammadan native scholars of all schools of thought in Islam. He is specially indebted to Dr. F. Steingass, of the University of Munich, the author of the English-Arabic and Arabic-English Dictionaries, for a careful revision of the whole work. The interesting article on WRITING is from the pen of this distinguished scholar, as well as some valuable criticisms on the composition of the QUR'AN, and a biographical sketch of the Khalifah `Umar. Orientalists may, perhaps, be surprised to find that Sikhism has been treated as a sect of Islam, but the Compiler has been favoured with a very able and scholarly article on the subject by Mr. F. Pincott, M.R.A.S., in which he shows that the "religion of Nanak was really intended as a compromise between Hinduism and Muhammadanism, if it may not even be spoken of as the religion of a Muhammadan sect,"--the publication of which in the present work seemed to be most desirable. At the commencement of the publication of the work, the Author received very valuable assistance from the Rev. F. A. P. Shirreff, M.A., Principal of the Lahore Divinity College, as well as from other friends, which he must gratefully acknowledge.