I desire to record in this place my most cordial thanks, for the invaluable assistance they have given me in the preparation of this volume, to Mr. A.T. Pringle, Professor E.B. Cowell, and Dr. E. Denison Ross, and to Mr. Aldis Wright, Edward FitzGerald's literary executor, and his publishers Messrs. Macmillan, for their very kind permission to reproduce in this volume the poem which has brought it into existence. EDWARD HERON-ALLEN. EXPLANATION OF THE REFERENCES IN THE FOLLOWING PARALLELS The following are the alternative texts and translations referred to in the following parallels:-- O.--The Ouseley MS. No. 140 in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, dated A.H. 865 (A.D. 1460), containing 158 ruba'iyat. A facsimile and translation with notes, etc., were published by H.S. Nichols, Ltd. (London, 1898). C.--The Calcutta MS. No. 1548 in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Library at Calcutta, containing 510 ruba'iyat. The original has been lost or stolen, but a copy has been made from the copy made for Edward FitzGerald at the instance of Prof. Cowell. L.--The Lucknow lithograph. The edition referred to is that of A.H. 1312 (A.D. 1894), containing 770 ruba'iyat. W.--The text and metrical translation published by E.H. Whinfield (London, Trübner, 1883), containing 500 ruba'iyat. N.--The text and prose translation published by J.B. Nicolas (Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1867), containing 464 ruba'iyat. S.P.--The text lithographed at St. Petersburg, A.H. 1308 (A.D. 1888), containing 453 ruba'iyat. Almost identical with N. B.--A collection of poems lithographed at Bombay, A.H. 1297 (A.D. 1880), containing 756 ruba'iyat of Omar. Almost identical with L. B. ii.--The MS. in the Public Library at Bankipur, dated A.H. 961-2 (A.D. 1553-4), containing 604 ruba'iyat. P.--The MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Supplément Persan, No. 823, ff. 92-113. Dated A.H. 934 (A.D. 1527), containing 349 ruba'iyat. P. ii.--Seven ruba'iyat written upon blank pages of MS. of the Diwan of Emad. Dated A.H. 786 (A.D. 1384). Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Supplément Persan, No. 745. The handwriting is of the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century of the Hijrah. P. iii.--Six ruba'iyat written in a handwriting of the 11th century of the Hijrah, on fol. 104 of a MS. collection of poems. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Supplément Persan, No. 793. P. iv.--The MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Supplément Persan, No. 826, ff. 391-394. Dated A.H. 937 (A.D. 1530), containing 76 ruba'iyat. P. v.--The MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Ancien Fonds., No. 349, ff. 181-210. Dated A.H. 920 (A.D. 1514), containing 213 ruba'iyat. T.--The MS. in the Library of the Nawab of Tonk. Apparently copied about A.D. 1840 principally from C., containing 369 ruba'iyat.