“This volume is primarily intended to supply a working and practical knowledge of the Persian language, for the benefit of those who have not the time or the inclination to master the grammar, and yet require to use the spoken tongue for purposes of business or pleasure. With this object in view it supplies many vocabularies of words carefully selected to suit the needs of those holding communication with Persia and the Persians, classified according to subject, and a large number of colloquial phrases and sentences of a practical character, similarly classified... This work thus forms a useful and valuable handbook of Persian for tourists and travellers, commercial men, naval and military officers, students and others. We may add that the Persian language is very sweet, and compared with other languages it is easy to master. It has a complete literature of its own. It is not spoken in Persia alone, but in Afghanistan and many parts of India, and is the official language of some of the courts of that country. It is also used in Turkish Arabia (Baghdad), and by educated people in Russian Turkestan.” (Summary from the Preface, by Shaykh Hasan)
