It survives today only in a single damaged 8th- or 9th-century manuscript in London, British Library Add.
[2] It was written shortly after this date, since the author writes that there was no Arab attack in a particular region after 664 up to the present.
[3] The author shows the Maronites winning a debate with the Syrian Orthodox[2] and is sympathetic to the Byzantines, whose victories over Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid in Anatolia it dutifully reports.
[5] It correctly names the days of week for particular dates, suggesting that many of its passages written shortly after the events.
[2] In general it favours the Umayyad Muawiyah over the Caliph Ali in the First Arab Civil War.