Thus have I endeavored, to the best of my power, to exhibit faithfully what has hitherto been alleged for and against the authenticity of the book, which is one of the principal authorities of the Dabistán. If the author of this latter work was, as the often-quoted ingenuous author supposes, “in strict intimacy with the sects of enthusiasts by whom the Desátir was venerated, and whose rule it was,” we may so much the more rely upon the truth of his account concerning such a religious association. If he professed the new religion, which the emperor Akbar had endeavored to found, as this was a revival of the ancient Persian religion, we may reasonably presume, that he would have searched, and brought to light writings concerning it which were concealed, neglected, or little known; he would have cautiously scrutinized the authenticity of the documents, and conscientiously respected the sacred sources of that faith, which, after a careful examination of all others, deserved his preference; nothing justifies the supposition, that he would forge any thing himself, or countenance, or not be able to detect, the forgery of others. However this be, Mohsan Fani’s character will be best known by the perusal of his work; after a rapid synopsis of its contents, to which I will now proceed, I shall be permitted to point out, as briefly as possible, some of the merits and defects conspicuous in his composition. [20] See note, vol. I. p. 20. [21] Ibid., p. 44. [22] Calcutta edition, p. 30, line 6. [23] See vol. I. p. 534. [24] _Ibid._, p. 65. [25] M. Eugène Burnouf, to whose most valuable judgment I had the pleasure to submit the question, prefers the derivation from _bhásh_, because this word in Zend would be _wâsh_, as the Zend _w_ represents exactly the Sanscrit _bh_, which aspiration did not exist in the ancient idiom of Bactrian Asia. This sagacious philologer hinted at a comparison with the Persian _usta_, or _awesta_, upon which in a subsequent note. [26] See the Persian text of the Dasátir, p. 377. [27] _Tableau de l’Empire ottoman_, by M. d’Ohson, t. II. p. 70. [28] _Journal des Savans_, _février_ 1821, p. 74. The Persian passage which de Sacy quotes, and in which there is _Destánir_ for _Dasátir_, is taken from the text published by Gladwin, and not from the printed Calcutta edition. [29] See Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its Dependencies, vol. VIII., from July to Dec. 1819, p. 357.