The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-06

| done, and did not utter one word OF re
proach to me. Thus the matter stood VINE
my Hashimte friend came TO me carryin
the purse. still just AZ he had sent 1t TO me
and he said Tell me honestly what 20
did with that which sent to you told hir
| everything, just as it had happened, an
he continued as follows AT the momen
when your message reached me, ma
| nothing in the world except the sum sen
you l therefore wrote to our mutual frien'
to beg him to come to my aid, and he sen
me my own purse. still sealed with my owl
SEAL We then divided the money lnt'
three parts, and each took one, havlnI
previously set apart a hundred dirhems 10
my Wife"
Another eminent Arab historian belong
ing to the Abblssid period, ABaladhuri
was of Persian birth. He frequented the
courts of the Caliphg Mutawakkil AND Mus
tain. and was intrusted with the edueatior
of Abdallah, son of Al-Mutazo, the poe
who was Caliph for ono day. He died II
s02, after having lost his reason in conse
quence Of taking too strong dose OF cashe"
nut, or marsh nut (baladhur), the curious
Indian fruit which is supposed to develop
the memory; hence the surname by which
he ia best known. 1t became necessa ry
to shut him up in madhouse, and there he
ended his days. His -IIistory Of the Moslem
Conquests,' published by G. do Goeje, is
described in the book before us as an ex-
ceedingly remarkable contribution to the
history of the victorious expeditions oil
the Moslems in the earlier years OF the
Hegira. The care with which he indicates
the sources whence he procured his verba
information makes his narrative valuable
historical document. 1t is, unfortunately
only a summary of much larger work
which he never completed. The great
historian OF the Abba ssid epoch, however
was surnamed Tabari. He also was OF
Persian blood and was born at Amul, in
Tabaristan. to the south Of the Caspian
Sea. After travelling in Egypt, Syria
and Iraq he established himself as a teacher
of the traditions and of Jurisprudence at
Bagdad. To his researches in these sub
jects are due two Of his extant sCommen-
taries' His most interesting work, how
ever. is his universal history, the first COM
plete history in the Arabic tongue.
Masudi, the scion Of an Arab family
tracing its descent from Masud, one Of the
comrades Of the Prophet, was born at
Bagdad near the close OF the ninth century.
He opened new branch of Arab literature
that of the historical anecdote. After
visiting Persia he went to India. He
traversed Multan and Mansura, and then
proceeded by the Deccan Peninsula to
Ceylon; here he took ship, sailed over the
China SEA- and the Red Sea, touched at
Madagascar and returned to Arabia by
Oman. The Caspian Sea, Syria and Pales-
tine in turn attracted his attention. During
the latter years of his life he was in Egypt
and probably died at Fustat (Old Cairo).
A man of inquisitive mind, he neglected
no accessible source Of information. He
extended his researches beyond purely
Moslem studies, exploring the history OF
the Persians, Hindus and Romans and
the traditions of the Jews, Christians and
pagans. The numberless anecdotes col
lected in his Golden Meadows" furnish
the fullest and most entertaining fund OF
knowledge relating to Oriental civilization
during that part Of the Abbassid period
which was contemporaneous with his life.
His great historical work, of which the
Golden Meadows" is hut an extract, WAS
in thirty volumes. Almost all of these
have persisted, but a philosophic epitome
Of the larger work has BEEN translated
into French.
OF a melancholy interest is the biblio-
graphical treatise known as the Fihrist
Gndex), compiled by an author surnamed
al-Warraq the Bookseller) Of Bagdad
1t is a catalogue Of books, most of which
have now disappeared, either because
they did not survive the great catastro-
Plies which overlook the Bagdad Libraries
destroyed by the Mongols in the thir-
teenth and by Tamerlane in the fifteenth
century, disasters which, as regards the
Arab Middle Ages, may he compared with
the various annihiations Of the Alexandrian
Library in ancient times-or because
owing to their being epitomized in more
recent and fashionable works, they were
no longer copied, and so died out by A
process Of decay. n there is one Arab
historian whose name is we'll known to
educated persons, it is George al-Makirl
a. d., l2O5-l273), son of an unfrocked
monk. Christian employee at the Ministry
of War, who was born at Cairo. Like his
father. he entered the Government service
and. eventually, held an important post
in Egypt, but, having been dismissed and
imprisoned, he retired to Damascus and
died there. His universal history bears
the title OF sThe Blessed Collection the
second part, which covers the period be-
tween Mohammeds time and the yeaT
1880, has been translated into Latin, English
and French. Yuhanna Abul-Faraj, also
known under his Latinized Syrian name
of Bar Hebreus, was the son Of a baptized
Jewish physician. He YVES born in 1928
accompanied lis father to Antioch in a
fight before the Mongol invasion. there
became monk and lived the life of ar
anchorite; later he went to Tripoi in Syria
to study dalectics and medicine In l24f
he was appointed Bishop Of Guhos and
became successfully Bishop Of Aeppo anC
Archbishop of the Eastern Jacobites HI
displayed considerable activity in Syriat
as we'll as Arabic literature. Of his Arat il
works the most important is the ~Epitornf
of Dynasties," which is in fact a condensed
chronicle, to which its author has added
information rega ding the medical ano
mathematical literature Of the Arabs.
III.
Passing over the works which treat %
theology and Jurisprudence, we come
to those branches of Arabic literature
which deal with geography, with philosophy
and with science. The geography of IN,
Arabs Ia eyidentl " of Greek origin AL