'Annals of 'Omān' [‎1] (18/112)

NTRODUCTORY J^EMARKS.
The Arabic work from which the following account of the History of
'Oman is translated, is entitled " Keshf-ul-Ghummeh," or " Dispeller of
grief." That work, which forms a good sized MS. volume, is not devoted
exclusively to the subject of 'Oman, but contains likewise accounts of other
countries, and descriptions of various sects of Islam.
Copies of the " Keshf-ul-Ghummeh" are extremely rare in 'Oman ; and
out of that country I doubt if it is known, I have only heard of two copies
existing. That from which I prepared this translation was lent to me by
a gentleman residing at Maskat, a member of the A'l-bu-Sa'id family. The
name of the author was not inscribed on the pages, and no one at Maskat
seemed able to supply the omission. At length, one of the Kadhis wrote
to certain learned persons at Nezwa, who replied that the author was Sirhan-
bin-Sa'id, a native of Izld or Zikki.
It would appear that in 'Oman it has been customary with the learned
of the priests and Kadhis at times to write narratives of contemporaneous
events in prose or verse, chiefly touching religious matters. Numerous re
cords of this class are probably in existence, and from such sources it may
be that the author of the " Keshf-ul-Ghummeh" has composed his annals
of 'Oman. The first part, however, shows acquaintance with some of the
standard Arabian works.
The date of the composition of the work can be approximately stated.
The narrative is brought down to the year 1728, A. D., and therefore could
not have been concluded at an earlier period. The abrupt manner in which
it terminates, tends to show that the work was not written much
later than that date. The author of the Arabic work translated by the
Rev. G. P. Badger for the Hakluyt Society in 1871, occasionally quotes
the " Author of the Keshf-ul-Ghemmeh" as making such and such a state
ment. I have not seen the original Arabic of Mr. Badger's author, but by
a comparison of the English version with the " Keshf ul-Ghummeh," I have
* In the following, pronounce a as in hat; e as in ied; i as in hid ; o as in ohey ; u
as in hull; d as hx father ; i as ee in deed ; 6 as in note; u as oo in hoot; ei as i in hite ;
ey as in they ; ow as in cow; th as in hoth ( l -:) ; th as th in the (i); hh corresponds
to ^; ghto dh to ^ and io ; A to ; g to ^; k to ^ is represented by
an inverted comma