The handwriting of this manuscript is poor. It bears neither a date of transcription nor the copyist’s name, and is estimated to date from the twelfth century AH. It appears to me that more than one copyist took turns copying it, given the differences in handwriting, although these may instead be attributable to changes of pen or to variations in the copyist’s condition. Many words on the lower halves of folios (12, 13) have been effaced, either because the manuscript deteriorated or for some similar reason. The manuscript was collated and bears numerous insertion and collation marks, as well as corrections to the readings. It is therefore generally sound in terms of textual accuracy. It appears to me to be the source copy from which the book was printed in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, given the substantial agreement between their texts. I designated it by the siglum (lām).

8 — The third Paris manuscript, no. (2444), comprises (73 folios), with (15) lines per page. Several folios are missing from the beginning after the title folio, and the end is likewise incomplete. The manuscript bears no trace of collation or correction and is the poorest in quality of all the copies. I therefore did not collate it in full, but benefited from it in certain passages. Its title folio bears the following: “The Book of Governance according to the Sharia for the Welfare of the Ruler and the Subjects, authored by the sheikh and imam...” Beneath this is an ownership inscription reading: “This book passed into the ownership of its scribe, Muhammad ibn ... al-Hanbalī, through purchase from Mahmūd ibn al-Zakī al-D... for the sum of twelve pieces of silver, on 23 Safar al-Khayr 1033 AH.” I designated it by the siglum (sīn).

At this point, we extend our profound thanks to the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh for graciously photographing a collection of the manuscripts on which we have relied here. In particular, we thank the Manuscripts Department and its director, our esteemed friend, Sheikh