The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-20

Literary clubs flourishcd in Bagdad from tho
time Of Mamun until the humiliation of the city
by the Mongos booksellers discharged an i'm
portant social function in those days; their shops
were the resort OF students and the learned gener
ally. To such perfection had the art OF quick and
lcgible writing been carried that some OF the best
books could be placed in the hands Of the public at
the price OF dinar, or about IS apiece II is, Of
course, impossible, within the compass Of para
graph to give an adequate idea OF the intellectual
progress made by the Saraccns in the course of five
centuries II is certain that the Arabs intro
duccd TO Europe the mariners compass, and
travelled by sea TO oil parts of the world in quest
of knowledge, or In the pursuit OF commerce.
They used gunpowder in the great battle al
Nazareth in which the Mongols were do
feated in 1860 A. d. or almost n century before the
Battle of Crccy. They established colonies in
South Africa in the Indian archipelago and on the
Malay an peninsula as well as the coasts of India
Even China opened her gates to Moslem coionists.
and Bassorah was an cntrepot Of active commerce
with India and Cathay Nor was the commercial
activity of the Arabs confined 10 the sea One
great caravan route extended through the coun-
tries OF Northern Africa TO the Atlantic, Another
stretched southwark acrossI the desert OF Sahara
into the heart of tho Dark Continent From the
numerous ports on tho southern side Of the Medi-
terrancan, trade was carried into Spain. Franco.
Italy and Sicily Trcbizond the entrepot Of .
brisk commerce with Byzantum. Other routes
led IN Central Asia and Northern India whilst o
third route, passing from Bagdad TO the Caspian
Sea, was thence connected by means Of the Volgs
with the countries of the far North. This chan
mel OF trade accounts for tho Abbasid coins thAt
arc still 70 be found in Russia and Sweden, and
that attest lively intercourse with the Saraccns .
thousand years ago. The Arabs finally, discov-
erod the Azores, and II is unreasonable surmise
that they may have penetrated TO America Within
the confines of the ancient continents they gave an
unprecedented impulse in every direction TO human
industry The Prophet had inculcated labor as Q
duty. He had set the impress Of piety upon tn
dustrial pursuits he had commended commerce
and agriculture meritorous in the sight Of tho
Lord. These prccepts had their natural results:
everywhere in Islam, merchants traders and the
industrial classes in general were treated with TO
spect
The host Of men OF letters and savants who
fourished under the Abbasid Caliphato directed
their minds TO every branch Of human study.
They wrote on grammar. rhetoric bellies lettres,
philology, geography, history the -tradtions,'
and travels they compiled le1icons and biographi-
cal dictionaries; they enriched the world with
thoughtful disquistions and beautiful poetry;
they added TO the OF human knowledge by
their discoveries in science, and gave an impetus
TO speculative thought by their philosophical dis
cussions During the period under review, tho
physical sciences were diligently cultivated; chem
istry. botany, geology and natural history exer-
cised the energies OF the ablest men. Abu Musa
Ja1ar uhe Gcber of Christian wrters) is the father
OF modern chemistry. The science of medicine and
the art Of surgery were developed to a very high
degree The Arabs invented chemical pharmacy,
and the founders OF the institutions which are
now called dispensariea Carefully organized
gardens for the study Of botany and herbology
existed both in Bagdad and other places for the
education Of pupils The great work performed
by the Arabs in the exact sciences is well known
They invented algebra and introduced the use Of
the tangent in trigonometry and astronomical OBJ
servations They made great discoveries in op-
tics, and pointed out the laws Of atmospheric re-
fraction. They asoertained the size OF the earth,
the obliquity OF the elliptic the variations In the
lunar latudes and the procession OF the oquino1ea
They invented the telescope; the astronomical
tables constructed by Albatani (the Albatesnirs
OF medieval Europe were translated into Latin,
and furnished the ground work Of astronomy in
Europe for many centuries Metaphysics and
philosophy were cultivated with less zeal Ala
RADIUS, called by the Arabs second Aristotle
the precursor and master OF Avicenna There
is no doubt that Avicenna was one Of the greatest
thinkers well physicians that the world has
produced.
dealt death blow in 1858 A d. With tho do
struction OF Bagdad the gloom of night settled on
Western Asia The Arab and Persian autl rs
recount in narrowing strains the havoc and ruin
caused by the myiads Of sarages who, in the mid
die of tho thirteenth century, swept over the Ia
lamic world. The invasion Of the Tartarr" says
Ibn ulAthir was of the greatest OF calamities
and most terrible Of vsdtauons which fen upon thu
world in general and the Aoslems in particular
the like Of which succeeding ages have failed to
bring FORTH for II one were TO say that the world
since God created 1t to the present time was never
80 afflicted one would speak truly for history has
nothing which approaches it, Abdul Lath calls
the Mongol Eruption "a misfortune that reduced 70
indgnifcanco all other mid0rtunea" Juwafni,
the author of the "Jahan Kusha," who was in tho
service Of Genghis about this time says the reyo-
luton which has overwhelmed the world, has do
stroyod learning and the leaned. especially in
Khorasan. which was the focus of light and the
rendezvous of the learned. The men Of leaning
have become the victims of Che sword. This IL q
period Of famine for science and virtue'
AWH.