[5] "English writers generally express the Arabic vowels and diphthongs by their nearest _Italian_ equivalents. This mode is very well suited for those who know, and for those who do not care for, the correct pronunciation of the words so transcribed; but for others I think it objectionable. Our language is altogether much more suitable to the purpose of expressing the sounds of Arabic than the Italian. Besides, I believe it is the custom of every other European nation, in transcribing Oriental words, to employ a system congenial with its own language. In a former work, I made use of a double h to express a very strong Arabic aspirate (as others had done before me), and the word 'Hhágg' or 'Hhájj' was pointed out by a critic as one remarkably uncouth: Von Hammer, in a review of that work, writes the same word (and very properly as a German writer) 'Hadschdsch.'" [6] "Strictly speaking, it has a sound between that of a in 'bad' and that of u in 'bud;' sometimes approximating more to the former; and sometimes to the latter." [7] "Its sound, however, often approximates to that of a in 'ball.'" [8] "Dh is pronounced as th in 'that:' gh represents a guttural sound like that produced in gargling: kh represents a guttural sound like that which is produced in expelling saliva from the throat, and approaching nearer to the sound of ḥ (a very strong aspirate) than to that of k: sh is pronounced as in 'shall:' and th, as in 'thin.'" [9] "Es-Suyooṭee, in his 'Ḥosn el-Moḥáḍarah,' after quoting a description of certain dresses, says, 'As to their dresses of honour, and those of the Wezeers and others of similar rank, I have struck out the description of them from the words of Ibn-Faḍl-Allah; for they are composed of silk and gold, which is forbidden by the law, and I have obliged myself not to mention in this book any thing of which I should be questioned in the world to come, if it be the will of God.'--I have never seen any Arabic work with drawings of costumes; but Persian drawings are often useful in explaining Arab dresses." [10] These drawings, with some few exceptions, have now been published, from copies in the possession of M. Coste. [11] "The substance of the first five chapters in my translation, ending with part of the thirty-second Night, occupies a hundred and sixty-eight Nights in the edition of Breslau." [Illustration] [Illustration] CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. PAGE Introduction 1 Notes 15 CHAPTER I. Story of the Merchant and the Jinnee 38 Story of the First Sheykh and the Gazelle 42 Story of the Second Sheykh and the two Black Hounds 46