es romancing style of treatment. Nevertheless he
sometimes helps us to recognize in Ibn Ishaq's narrative modifications
of the genuine tradition made for a purpose, and the additional details
he supplies set various events before us in a clearer light. Apart from
this his chief merits lie in his studies on the subject of the
traditional authorities, the results of which are given by Ibn Sa'd, and
in his chronology, which is often excellent. A special study of the
traditions about the conquest of Syria made by M.J. de Goeje in 1864
(_Memoires sur la conquete de la Syrie_, 2nd ed., Leiden, 1900), led to
the conclusion that Waqidi's chronology is sound as regards the main
events, and that later historians have gone astray by forsaking his
guidance. This result has been confirmed by certain contemporary notices
found by Th. Noldeke in 1874 in a Syriac MS. of the British Museum. And
that Ibn Ishaq agrees with Waqidi in certain main dates is important
evidence for the trustworthiness of the former also. For the chronology
before the year 10 of the Flight Waqidi did his best, but here, the
material being defective, many of his conclusions are precarious. Waqidi
had already a great library at his disposal. He is said to have had 600
chests of books, chiefly _dictata_ written by or for himself, but in
part real books by Abu Mikhnaf (d. 748), Ibn Ishaq (whom he uses but
does not name), 'Awana (d. 764), Abu Mashar (d. 791) and other authors.
Abu Mikhnaf left a great number of monographs on the chief events from
the death of the Prophet to the caliphate of Walid II. These were much
used by later writers, and we have many extracts from them, but none of
the works themselves except a sort of romance based on his account of
the death of Hosain (Husain) of which Wustenfeld has given a
translation. With regard to the history of Irak in particular he was
deemed to have the best information, and for this subject he is Tabari's
chief source, just as Madaini, a younger contemporary of Waqidi, is
followed by preference in all that relates to Khorasan. Madaini's
_History of the Caliphs_ is the best, if not the oldest, published
before Tabari; but this book is known only by the excerpts given by
later writers, particularly Baladhuri and Tabari. From these we judge
that he had great narrative power, with much clear and exact learning,
and must be placed high as a critical historian. His plan was to record
the various traditions about an event, ch