Third –
The Ẓāhiriyyah Copy:
Referred to by the letter “ẓāʾ” (ظ), this manuscript was formerly part of the Ẓāhiriyyah Library and is now housed in the al-Assad National Library in Damascus under shelf-number 6797.
It is incomplete, containing 154 folios. Each leaf measures 31 × 20 cm and carries between 31 and 33 lines per page. The text is ruled in red, yellow, and black, and the years are written in red ink. The copy was penned by Ḥabīb Allāh ibn Qamar al-Dīn in 1181 AH, in a fine naskh hand.
It opens with the author’s words:
“ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī—‘and al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir, in his biography of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan al-Aʿraj, reports from the son of Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib…’”
and concludes with:
“He said, ‘Brother, you have wearied me and constrained her; rather, go and give it away in charity.’ The end of the volume, and all praise is due to God alone.”
The binding—gilt and decorated—has suffered water damage, leaving its edges frayed.
Ownership is recorded for Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Naṣr, dated 1227 AH.

Fourth –
The Rabat Copy:
This is a single volume identified by Professor Dr. Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf in the Royal Library at Rabat. It begins with the caliphate of al-Ḥasan and ends with the fall of the Umayyad caliphate. Long thought to be a volume from al-Dhahabī’s History of Islam, it proved valuable to Dr. Bashshār when he reviewed the present work.