page_title: Graeco-Arabic translation movement
section_title: Abbasid Period (750–1258 CE)
hierarchical_section_title: Graeco-Arabic translation movement / Abbasid Period (750–1258 CE)
context_page_description: The Graeco-Arabic translation movement was a large, well-funded, and sustained effort responsible for translating a significant volume of secular Greek texts into Arabic. The translation movement took place in Baghdad from the mid-eighth century to the late tenth century.
  While the movement translated from many languages into Arabic, including: Pahlavi, Sanskrit, Syriac, and Greek, it is often referred to as the Graeco-Arabic translation movement because it was predominantly focused on translating the works of Hellenistic scholars and other secular Greek texts into Arabic.
context_section_description: The Abbasid revolution and the move to a new capital in Baghdad introduced the ruling administration to a new set of demographic populations more influenced by Hellenism. At the same time, the ruling elite of the new dynasty strove to adopt a Sassanian Imperial Ideology, which itself was also influenced by Greek thought. These factors culminated in a capital more receptive to and actively interested in the knowledge contained in scientific manuscripts of Classical Greece.
  The advent and rapid spread of papermaking learned from Chinese prisoners of war in 751 CE also helped to make the translation movement possible.
  The translation movement in Arab progressed in development during the Abbasid period. The Abbasid period encompassed one of the very critical markers in the movement's history, that is, the translation of the central texts of the Islamic religion, in this case, the Quran. The translation movement in Arab was a movement that was greatly supported under the rule of Islamic, which caused the translation of materials to Arabic from different languages like middle Persian. The translation movement was instigated by the Barmakids. Available documents depict that Persian texts were greatly privileged by the translation movement.
  The movement succeeded in forming civilization overlap and initiated new maps in the fields of culture and politics. Islamic rulers participated in the movement in numerous ways, for example, creating classes for translation to facilitate its flow all through the various phases of the Islamic empires. The translation movement had a significant effect on developing the scientific knowledge of the Arabs since several theories in science had surfaced from various origins. Late, there was the introduction of the western culture to the Arabic translations that were preserved since most of their initial scripts could not be located.
  Khalidi and Dajani (2015) argue that one of the last empires of Persia before Islam was the Sasanian Empire. Before Islam rose, there was no system for Arabic writing. Arabs could learn different languages, like Syriac as well as Aramaic, to attainability to communicate effectively whenever they were out for trading. They made their journey in what was referred to as summer and winter caravans. Normally in these journeys, one of the Arab tribes that were considered to be famous - such as the Quraysh - would lead them. The translation is known to date back to when the second century was at the helm. This is the time when the Syriacs are believed to have transformed their original customs as well as beliefs into Arabic.
  The golden age of Islam was regarded as the landmark for the translation movement. Muhammad, the founding prophet of Islam, delivered information to various political leaders as well as societies such as Persia, Rome, and Syria, which neither spoke nor understood Arabic, requesting them to consider the adoption of Islam. This resulted in Muhammad searching for private scribes who would translate from Arabic. This motivated Muslims to acquire and learn new foreign languages. Zayd ibn Thabit, who was the most competent of Muhammad's scribes entitled to Muhammad, translated to Persian, Syriac, as well as Hebrew in order to ease communication with jews. The major criteria that Islam incorporated were to motivate others to look for knowledge since they thought that understanding how Allah related to the creation was the most appropriate way of understanding the universe. This criterion was a significant concept that motivated the spreading of their religion throughout the world.
  When Muhammad died in 632 CE, caliphs that were considered Rightly Guided Caliphs were chosen to lead the Empire of Islam, the information of the Quran was becoming more known in the surrounding civilizations. There was an expansion of the Islamic empire, leading to searching of multilingual teachers as well as people to translate and teach the Quran and the Arabic language. Later, the Quran would be incorporated into one language.
  Translation attained more propulsion in the times of Um
caption: Leaf from an Arabic translation of the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, treating the "Preparation of Medicine from Honey", 1224
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