Originally compiled by Destur Hoshangji Jamaspji Asa, a high priest of the Parsis in Malwa, India, this historic dictionary was revised and enlarged by Martin Haug. This edition of the glossary represents the first time that the Pahlavî-Pâzand, or Saanian Farhang, was published in its ancient form and arrangement. The dictionary is of an Aramaic translation into Middle Persian, in Pahlavi script. Other publications of this material arrange the entries serially, according to the Aramaic characters. Haug arranged the material thematically by chapter. A substantial introductory essay on Pahlavi comprises nearly 150 pages before the actual glossary begins. The reader is thus informed of what the actual work consists. The entries are also translated into English, occasionally reaching substantial essays on some of the more complex or precise words. A truly historic attempt to document a language far removed from many European and new world scholars, Haug has produced an indispensable historic dictionary.

Martin Haug (1827-1876) was a German orientalist with an academic record including the Universities of Stuttgart, Tübingen, Göttingen, Bonn, Heidelberg, and Munich. He spent some years in India as professor of Sanskrit at Poona. He wrote several important reference books regarding the languages of India and Persia.