This book may be considered to be Volume II of the Hikayat Muhammad
Hanafiyyah, the text edition which appeared in 1975 as number 12 in the
same series. When mention is made of "Volume I", it is the latter which
is referred to. The present publication contains first and foremost an
abbreviated translation of the Malay text. With regard to the rather
repetitious and cliche-ridden character of the latter, it was believed
that little was to be gained by a literal word-for-word translation. I
hope that little essential has been left out and that the flavour of the
original has percolated through to the English rendering ! For this
purpose I have especially endeavoured to render many dia- logues as
'verbatim' as feasible. The translation has been accompanied by notes
whose main purpose it is to enable a running comparison with the Persian
original. Copious quotations of the Malay and Persian texts should
enable the expert reader to reach his own conclusions. Another feature
of this second volume is the commentaries that follow some of the
chapters trans- lated. Their purpose is to determine the position of the
account of the H. M. H.