Belles-lettres (Adab) and literary history are represented by a whole series of valuable works. Only a few of the most Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ († circa 760 a.d.). important can be mentioned here, and that in a very summary manner. The Persian Rúzbih, better known as ‘Abdulláh Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, who was put to death by order of the Caliph Manṣúr, made several translations from the Pehleví or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen of his powers in the famous Book of Kalíla and Dimna, which is ultimately derived from the Sanscrit Fables of Bidpai. The Arabic version is one of the oldest prose works in that language, and is justly regarded as a model of elegant style, though it has not the pungent brevity which marks true Arabian eloquence. Ibn Ibn Qutayba († 899 a.d.). Qutayba, whose family came from Merv, held for a time the office of Cadi at Dínawar, and lived at Baghdád in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif)[651] and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará), and may add here the Adabu ’l-Kátib, or 'Accomplishments of the Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the ‘Uyúnu ’l-Akhbár, or 'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, Nobility, Friendship, Women, &c. ‘Amr b. Baḥr al-Jáḥiẓ of Baṣra was a celebrated Jáḥiẓ († 869 a.d.). freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the Mu‘tazilites (al-Jáḥiẓiyya).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal and entertaining character. Ibn Khallikán singles out as his finest and most instructive works the Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán ('Book of Animals'), and the Kitábu ’l-Bayán wa-’l-Tabyín ('Book of Eloquence and Exposition'), which is a popular treatise on rhetoric. It so happens—and the fact is not altogether fortuitous—that extremely valuable contributions to the literary history of the Arabs were made by two writers connected with the Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi († 940 a.d.). Umayyad House. Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova, who was descended from an enfranchised slave of the Spanish Umayyad Caliph, Hishám b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmán (788-796 a.d.), has left us a miscellaneous anthology entitled al-‘Iqd al-Faríd, or 'The Unique Necklace,' which is divided into twenty-five books, each bearing the name of a different gem, and "contains something on every subject." Though Abu ’l-Faraj ‘Alí, the Abu ’l-Faraj al-Iṣfahání († 967 a.d.). author of the Kitábu ’l-Aghání, was born at Iṣfahán, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe Quraysh and a lineal descendant of Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph. Coming to Baghdád, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in al-Muhallabí, the Vizier of the Buwayhid sovereign, Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla. His minor works are cast in the shade by his great 'Book of Songs.' This may be described as a history of all the Arabian poetry that had been set to music down to the author's time. It is based on a collection of one hundred melodies which was made for the Caliph Hárún al-Rashíd, but to these Abu ’l-Faraj has added many others chosen by himself. After giving the words and the airs attached to them, he relates the lives of the poets and musicians by whom they were composed, and takes occasion to introduce a vast quantity of historical traditions and anecdotes, including much ancient and modern verse. It is said that the Ṣáḥib Ibn ‘Abbád,[655] when travelling, used to take thirty camel-loads of books about with him, but on receiving the Aghání he contented himself with this one book and dispensed with all the rest.[656] The chief man of letters of the next generation was Abú Mansúr al-Tha‘álibí (the Furrier) of Naysábúr. Tha‘álibí († 1037 a.d.). Notwithstanding that most of his works are unscientific compilations, designed to amuse the public rather than to impart solid instruction, his famous anthology of recent and contemporary poets—the Yatímatu ’l-Dahr, or 'Solitaire of the Time'—supplies indubitable proof of his fine scholarship and critical taste. Successive continuations of the Yatíma were written by al-Bákharzí († 1075 a.d.) in the Dumyatu ’l-Qaṣr, or 'Statue of the Palace'; by Abu ’l-Ma‘álí al-Ḥaẓírí († 1172 a.d.) in the Zínatu ’l-Dahr, or 'Ornament of the Time'; and by the favourite of Saladin, ‘Imádu ’l-Dín al-Kátib al-Iṣfahání († 1201 a.d.), in the Kharídatu ’l-Qaṣr, or 'Virgin Pearl of the Palace.' From the tenth century onward the study of philology proper began to decline, while on the other hand those sciences which formerly grouped themselves round philology now became independent, were cultivated with brilliant success, and in a short time reached their zenith.
The elements of History are found (1) in Pre-islamic traditions and (2) in the Ḥadíth of the Prophet, but the idea of History. historical composition on a grand scale was probably suggested to the Arabs by Persian models such as the Pehleví Khudáy-náma, or 'Book of Kings,' which Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘ turned into Arabic in the eighth century of our era under the title of Siyaru Mulúki ’l-‘Ajam, that is, 'The History of the Kings of Persia.'
Under the first head Hishám Ibnu ’l-Kalbí († 819 a.d.) and his father Muḥammad deserve particular mention as painstaking and trustworthy recorders.
Historical traditions relating to the Prophet were put in writing at an early date (see p. [247]). The first biography of Muḥammad (Síratu Rasúli ’lláh), compiled by Ibn Isḥáq, Histories of the Prophet and his Companions. who died in the reign of Manṣúr (768 a.d.), has come down to us only in the recension made by Ibn Hishám († 834 a.d.). This work as well as those of al-Wáqidí († 823 a.d.) and Ibn Sa‘d († 845 a.d.) have been already noticed.
Other celebrated historians of the ‘Abbásid period are the following.
Aḥmad b. Yaḥyá al-Baládhurí († 892 a.d.), a Persian, wrote an account of the early Muḥammadan conquests (Kitábu Baládhurí. Futúḥi ´l-Buldán), which has been edited by De Goeje, and an immense chronicle based on genealogical principles, 'The Book of the Lineages of the Nobles' (Kitábu Ansábi ’l-Ashráf), of which two volumes are extant.[657]
Abú Ḥánífa Aḥmad al-Dínawarí († 895 a.d.) was also of Íránian descent. His 'Book of Long Histories' (Kitábu Dínawarí. ’l-Akhbár al-Ṭiwál) deals largely with the national legend of Persia, and is written throughout from the Persian point of view.
Ibn Wáḍiḥ al-Ya‘qúbí, a contemporary of Dínawarí, produced an excellent compendium of universal history, which Ya‘qúbí. is specially valuable because its author, being a follower of the House of ‘Alí, has preserved the ancient and unfalsified Shí‘ite tradition. His work has been edited in two volumes by Professor Houtsma (Leyden, 1883).
The Annals of Ṭabarí, edited by De Goeje and other European scholars (Leyden, 1879-1898), and the Golden Meadows[658] (Murúju ’l-Dhahab) of Mas‘údí, which Pavet de Courteille and Barbier de Meynard published with a French translation (Paris, 1861-1877), have been frequently cited in the foregoing pages; and since these two authors are not only the greatest historians of the Muḥammadan East but also (excepting, possibly, Ibn Khaldún) the most eminent of all who devoted themselves to this branch of Arabic literature, we must endeavour to make the reader more closely acquainted with them.
Abú Ja‘far Muḥammad b. Jarír was born in 838-839 a.d. at Ámul in Ṭabaristán, the mountainous province lying along Ṭabarí (838-923 a.d.). the south coast of the Caspian Sea; whence the name, Ṭabarí, by which he is usually known.[659] At this time ‘Iráq was still the principal focus of Muḥammadan culture, so that a poet could say:—