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A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATIONS, AND DATES

In order to keep the text reasonably free of clutter, I have employed full diacritics in the transliteration of Arabic and Syriac only in quoted passages, first instances of technical terms, and the endnotes. I transliterate Arabic with the standard system modified from that of the Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2009). Syriac transliterations follow East Syriac orthography, thus noting the vowels a, ā, e, ē, i, o, and u but not, for example, distinguishing between u and ū. I transliterate according to the West Syriac vowel system only West Syrian proper names. I note gemination of consonants but not spirantization. I render the phonemes /x/ and /∫/ as kh and sh, respectively, in all transliterations of Arabic, Syriac, and very occasionally Middle Persian.

I have not been entirely consistent in rendering Syriac proper names into English. Generally, I render those of Greek derivation with an Anglicized form of the Greek (e.g., Kyriakos rather than Syriac Quryaqos). Syriac names of Semitic linguistic derivation I tend to transliterate according to the guidelines above (e.g., Ishoʿyahb), unless a different usage is standard in scholarship (e.g., Jacob, rather than Yaʿqub, of Edessa). I render Arabic names using standard transliteration, leaving aside diacritics in the body of the text. Following generally standard practice, I give the titles of Syriac texts in English but those of Arabic texts in transliteration.

All endnote citations of Arabic and Syriac text editions published with a translation into a modern language include the translation in the page ranges cited, or separate the text and translation pages with a forward slash. All translations into English given in this book, however, are my own unless otherwise noted. Biblical citations are either of the New Revised Standard Version or translated from the Syriac Peshitta. I quote the Quran according to the translation of M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).

Most of the individuals who appear in this book thought of the passage of time in terms of one or both of the Seleucid and Hijri calendars. In the interest of simplicity and intelligibility I have opted to use only Common Era dating.