There remains an acknowledgment of a more personal kind. Twenty-two years ago I wrote—"my warmest thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Professor A. A. Bevan, who read the proofs throughout and made a number of valuable remarks which will be found in the footnotes." Happily the present occasion permits me to renew those ties between us; and the book which he helped into the world now celebrates its majority by associating itself with his name.

REYNOLD A. NICHOLSON
November 1, 1929

Frontispiece
Litigants before a Judge (British Museum Or. 1200)

Contents

PAGE
Preface[ix]
Introduction[xv]
CHAPTER
I.Saba and Ḥimyar[1]
II.The History and Legends of the Pagan Arabs[30]
III.Pre-islamic Poetry, Manners, and Religion[71]
IV.The Prophet and the Koran[141]
V.The Orthodox Caliphate and the Umayyad Dynasty[181]
VI.The Caliphs of Baghdád[254]
VII.Poetry, Literature, and Science in the ‘Abbásid Period[285]
VIII.Orthodoxy, Free-thought, and Mysticism[365]
IX.The Arabs in Europe[405]
X.From the Mongol Invasion to the Present Day[442]
Appendix[471]
Bibliography[477]
Index[487]