Rumma, and the poetess Laila al-Akhya Liyya, well known for her beautiful elegies over her beloved Tauba ibn al-Humayyir. To these must be added the two Christian poets, Abdallah ibn al-Mukhariq and Al-Qutami; also Asha Hamdan, of Kufa, a Koran reader and lawyer; Al-Kumait, famous for his wonderful knowledge of the various dialects. of the Arab tribes, and the well-known Hammad ibn Shabur, surnamed "Al-Rawiya" or the "Quoter"-for he could quote by heart thousands of ancient Arabic poems, to whom we owe the collection of the seven Mu'allaqat, mentioned above.

The second, or Abbaside period, forms undoubtedly the most glorious epoch in the history of Arabic civilization, science, literature, and arts. Under this dynasty, the Caliphate was transferred from Dasmacus, the capital of the Umayyad dynasty, to Bagdad in Babylonia. Greek literature and civilization, i. e., history, theology,. philosophy, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and the natural sciences were then ardently and successfully cultivated by the Christian Nestorians and Jacobites, through all Mesopotamia and Persia, and the Arabs of the Abbaside period were in continuous contact with these Christians who initiated them into the secrets of Greek and Occidental civilization and learning. The educated native Arabs and especially the Arabized Persians, applied themselves first to the study of their own language and poetry, and to the exegesis of the Koran,, and then to philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, and the natural sciences, in some of which they achieved success and even originality. The following is but a very meagre sketch or ratherenumeration of the principal poets, grammarians, historians, philosophers, and writers who flourished during the long and glorious Abba-side dynasty.

Among the poets are Abu-Nawwas, of Al-Ahwaz, in Susiana,. (756-810), the erotic and bacchic poet of Harun al-Rashid, and wellknown for his licentiousness of speech and conduct; Muslim ibn alWalid, another not less erotic poet, (747-803); Abul 'Atahiya, of thetribe of 'Anaza, the Ecclesiastes of Arabic poetry (748-828); Ibrahim of Mossul, and his son Ishaq (Isaac), both famous as poets and singers; Di 'bil, of Kufa, (765-860: Al-Bukhturi, of the tribe of Tay (820-897), and the collector of a Hamasa different from that of Abu Tammam; Al-Mutanabbi, of Kufa, (905-965), who together with Al-Akhtal is. regarded as the greatest Arabic poet of post-Islamic times. His poetry and diction is noble and elegant and the thought often sublime; Abu Firas, of Hamadan; Abul-Ala' Al-Marrai, of Syrian descent,.

who is justly considered to be the 'Umar al-Khayyam of Arabic poetry; Al-Busti, of Persian origin (971-1010), Al-Busiri (1211-1294), and many others who flourished in Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Spain and Sicily. Among those who excelled in the art of writing rhymed prose, mention must be made of Ibn-Nubata (946984); Abu Bakr al Khawarizmi (934-993 or 1002). and especially Badi' ul-zaman, of Hamadan (990-1008), the originator of the socalled Magamat or "Seances"; and Hariri, of Basra, (1054-1122), author of the famous and almost inimitable Maqamat in which the, beauty, flexibility, and extraordinary richness of the Arabic language are exhibited at the zenith of their perfection. Hariri's Maqamat, have been more or less successfully translated into French and English.

As to the grammatical art, there is hardly a language whose forms and syntax have been submitted to such keen and scientific study as Arabic. The most minute and naive details of phonetics, grammar and syntax were carefully studied and debated, with the result that several schools of grammarians arose, such as that of Kufa, Bagdad, and Basra. The most eminent Arabic grammarians and philologists were of foreign extraction, especially Persian, who in acquiring and mastering the difficult language, were naturally compelled to make a deeper study of it than the native Arabs. The following are the principal scholars who engaged in this work: Abul 'Aswad; 'Isa Ibn 'Umar al-Thaqafi (A. D. 766); Khalil, to whom is ascribed the invention of the rules of Arabic prosody; Sibawaihi (or better Sibuya), of Persian origin, author of the Kitab or "Book" par excellence, the most authoritative grammar of Arabic (A. D. 793 or 796); Mu'arrij, (A. D. 810); Ibn Shumail (A. D. 818); Qutrub (A. D. 821); 'Abu 'Ubaida ibn al Muthanna, (728-825), of Jewish extraction, who is said to have written two hundred grammatical treatises; Abu Zaid alAnsari (A. D. 820); Al-'Asma'i, (739-831), one of the greatest Arabic literateurs, grammarians, and philosogists, and an acknowledged authority on ancient Arabic poetry and dialectology; Al-Akhfash, (A. D. 835), a pupil of Sibawaihi, and to whom we owe the final redaction and preservation of his master's Kitab; Ibn Ishaq (A. D. 840); Al-Sukkari (827-888), the collector of the Hudailite poems, and of the Diwan of Imru ul-Quais; Al-Mubbarrad, (826-988), author of the grammatical work called Al-Kamil; Ibn Duraid, (837-934), a poet and a man of great learning, and the author of a dictionary and book on the genealogies of the Arab tribes; Ibn al-Sarraj, (A. D. 929); Al-Sirafi, (A. D. 979); Al-Kisa'i, (A. D. 805), one of the greatest

grammarians of the Kufa school; Al-Mufaddal al-Dabbi, (A. D. 786), the collector of the Mufaddaliyyat poems, and of ancient Arabic proverbs; Ibn al 'A'rabi, (A. D. 846), a man of prodigious memory and of extraordinary knowledge of the rarest forms of Arabic grammar and vocabulary; Ibn al-Sikkit, (A. D. 857); Ibn al-Anbari, (885939); Ibn Qutaiba, (828-889), grammarian, historian, theologian, and an authority on ancient Arabic poetry; Al-Dinawri, (A. D. 895); Al-Azhari, (A. D. 891); Al Anbari, (1119-1118); Al-Tha'alibi, (9611038), of Persian origin and a great polygraph; Al-Maidani, (A. D. 1124), the author of the most valuable collection of Arabic proverbs; Al-Zamakhshari, (1074-1143), the author of the well-known Arabic grammar called Al-Mufassal; Ibn Ya'ish, (1158-1249), the authoritative commentator of Zamakhshari's Mufassal, and many others, whose names, for brevity's sake, must be omitted.

Among the Arabs, as among all Oriental peoples, the Hebrews included, history writing did not attain the same degree of perfection as among the Greeks, the Romans, and other occidental nations. The Oriental way of writing history has nothing in common with our modern Occidental method; it consists of grouping together extracts. and documents of various sources, dates, and authorship, without any attempt at examining their historical credibility, or harmonizing their discrepancies, or indicating their origin and authorship. Hence all oriental histories are essentially compilations and are consequently far inferior to our Western productions in that branch of science.

The earliest specimens of history-writing among the Arabs are to be found in the so-called Hadith or "traditions" concerning the deeds of Mohammed, his companions, and immediate successors, which traditions form the real basis of Koranic exegesis and Moslem theology and jurisprudence. These "traditions," or Maghazi (wars), or biographies of Mohammed are so numerous and voluminous that they form in themselves a complete library and quite an absorbing. branch of Arabic studies.

One of the earliest of these biographies is that of Ibn Ishaq, (A. D. 768) which, although actually lost, is, nevertheless, constantly quoted and to a great extent preserved in later biographies and histories: such as that of Ibn Hisham and others. Next comes the historian Al-Wakidi, (747-823), author of the Kitab al Maghazi or "Book of the Wars"; Ibn Sa'd, (A. D. 845), the author of a collection of biographies of Mohammed and his successors; Al-Azraqi, (A. D. 858), and Al-Fakihi, (A. D. 885), each of whom wrote a history of Mecca;

Ibn Zabala, author of a history of Medina, and many other historians who wrote the local histories of Basra, Kufa, Wasit, Raqqa, Harran, Isphahan, Bukhara, Damascus, Bagdad, etc. Ibn al Kalbi, (A. D. 763), and his son (A. D. 819), collected and wrote a very detailed history of the genealogies of the ancient Arabs, of their idols and heathenish customs. Al-Mada'ini, (753-830), is said to have written one hundred and eleven books on the prophet and his successors. AlZubair ibn Bakkar, (A. D. 870); Al- Baldahuri, (A. D. 892), the author of a very valuable History of the Moslem Conquest, a Genealogy of Mohammed's Successors and Companions and other works. But the greatest of all Arabic and Oriental Historians is Tabari, (838-923), whose masterly, accurate, and voluminous Annals (published in Leyden by several leading Arabic scholars of Europe in 20 volumes), are a unique and a most precious mine of accurate historical records and information. Of him it is said that for forty years he wrote forty sheets a day, or 600,000 sheets in all, thus about 600 volumes of 1,000 sheets each. Al-Suli, (A. D. 946), wrote a history of the ancient Arabic poets, and of the Abbaside Caliphs. Mas'udi, (A. D. 957), is the author of the Golden Meadows, a mine of information on Arabic and Oriental history and civilization, which is itself but an extract from a much larger work, in 30 volumes by the same author. Abu-l Faraj al-'Isfahani, (897-967), wrote the famous Book of Songs in 21 volumes, which is, in all probability, the most valuable and precious work ever produced by an Arabic writer, and undoubtedly the most complete collection of ancient Arabic poetry, together with the lives of these poets and a vast number of historical and literary anecdotes. Finally mention must be made of the well-known book, generally called Fihrist, or "Index," which is a unique and a very valuable bibliographical treatise written by Ibn Ishaq ibn abi Ya ‘qub al Nadim, surnamed "Al-Warraq" or "Bookseller," (A. D. 996). This bibliography gives one an idea of the immense richness of Arabic literature, though unfortunately most of the books it mentions have been completely lost. The number of Arabic books and treatises catalogued in the Fihrist, which covers only the first four centuries of the Mohammedan era, (i. e. VII-X centuries A. D.), is more than 20,000.

Besides these historical works, of a more or less general character, the Abbaside period produced an immense number of local and provincial histories, such as those of Egypt, Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia, Syria, Arabia, India, Spain, Sicily, and also of "Universal Histories," such as that of the great historians, Ibn-al Athir, of Mesopotamia,

(XII-XIII centuries A. D.), published in 12 volumes. This same author also wrote a historical treatise dealing with the seven thousand five hundred companions of the Prophet. Another historian is Abu'l Faraj, better known as Bar-Hebræus, the famous Maphrian of the Jacobite church, and the most learned writer of the Christian Orient (1226-1289). He wrote in Arabic an Epitome of Dynasties, published in the East and in the West.

Another important branch of studies, in which the learned Arabs of the Abbaside dynasty produced numerous and excellent works, deals with the Koran, its history and exegesis, Moslem theology and mystics, law and jurisprudence.

In the field of philosophy, natural sciences, and mathematics, the Arabs of the Abbaside dynasty produced some very valuable but not original works. We have already remarked how Greek philosophy and culture found their way among the Arabs through the Christian Nestorians and Jacobites of Mesopotamia and Babylonia in the eighth and ninth centuries of the Christian era. These had already translated into Syriac, for their own use, the principal works of Greek philosophy and on these translations the learned Arabs based their own versions and studies. It is, moreover, a well known fact that through the medium of Arabised Spain the study of Greek philosophy was once more introduced into the awakening Europe of the early Middle Ages. Al-Mansur, the second of the Abbaside Caliphs (754775), commanded that the most important philosophical productions of foreign nations be translated into Arabic, such as the Indian book of Kalila and Dimna (the Panciatantra), translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa' from the Pahlavi version; the Siddhanta, an Indian Astronomical treatise; Ptolemy's Astronomy, better known as the Almagest; Euclid's Geometry and other works of Greek, Syriac, and Persian origin. AlMamun, another Abbaside Caliph (813-833), founded the great university of Bagdad, with its famous library and observatory, and ordered more Greek works to be translated into Arabic, such as Aristotle's Politics, by Yuhanna ibn Batriq (a Christian, A. D. 815), his Theology (?) after Porphyry, etc., etc....Abu Hunain ibn Ishaq (A Christian, A. D. 873) became the personal medical attendent of the Caliph Al-Mutawalkil, and wrote, as well as translated from the Greek, numerous works on philosophy, botany, and medicine, especially those of Aristotle, Plato, Galen, Dioscorides, and Hippocrates. He is also said to have translated from the Greek the entire Old Testament. His son, Ishaq ibn Hunain (A. D. 910) was also a distinguished philoso