Arab Learning (Civ3)/Civilopedia

The first major written Arabic work was the Qur’an, the holy book of the Islamic faith. With the spread of Islam,
Arabic became the written language of the conquered lands, and Arabic became a major world language. During and
after this period, people of many different ethnic origins used Arabic as their literary language. The first major
literature to be written in this language was in the form of poetry, specifically qasidas, epic poems originally
performed orally and akin to sagas of the Norse lands. These began to be written down during the Umayyad dynasty
(661-750 AD). With the rise of the Abbasid dynasty (750-1258), the qasidas were joined by general writings known
as adab, a word that now means literature, but then meant refinement. Adab referred to prose writing that educated
and refined readers by providing information about the world around them and included essays and book-length works
on such topics as language and style, the history of other peoples and nations, scientific subjects, intellectual
and philosophical questions and human nature. While the Dark Ages held Europe in its grip of fear, superstition and
ignorance, the lands of the Muslim World continued on, having translated the most important works of Western science,
and added to this stockpile their continuing pursuit of knowledge. These Arabic texts, some from Cordovan Spain, but
many more from plunder during the Crusades, allowed Europe to regain many secrets that they had previously lost.