^ \\\c yhcohifljV,,/ ^ Shelf. PRINCETON, N. J. 3 * € & Li-'l-l Division. S Section Number X /,? 77 £PU / aXtXXr' % ^ Of. ftA^r K V» d* dd^sj d < C&L ' ' ^ 7r, f^ A^f A /'ec. y- ^ /*6^> u>d. XX y Xe /a. y" ' /i.'n / a ^i 2 l-c~£---‘ X | '£•$ I Od Uf ^(| j | Uk. ^ | -5(^0 | ** “ABDUL LATIF. “ Mr. Rehatsek’s Essay might be published with great advan tage.” “ I agree with this Re¬ port, but some portions of the Essay are contrary to the tenets of Islam, are irrelevant to the question, and are not true. “MUHAMMAD WAJIH. “ March 6th, 1865. PREFACE. vin The Essay in its present form is somewhat enlarged; its nucleus remains, however, entirely the same as before. Montferrier's Dictionnaire des Sciences Mathe- matiques has been used in some of the biographical notices; Simonot’s Histoire de VEspagne in the his¬ torical account of the Khalifs of Cordova; Weil s Geschichte der OhaUfen afforded also extremely valua¬ ble information, as well as the Muhammadan Dynasties of Spain, by Don Pascual Gayangos, and a few other works referred to in the Notes appended to this Essay ; among the latter will also be found a voca¬ bulary of Arabic and of some Persian terms and woids still current to this day, and amply demonstrating the great influence formerly exerted by Arabian learning, also on the languages of Europe. This Essay contains, moreover, O' genealogical table of the Kdiahfs, vanous chronological data, a number of facts bearing on the his tor v of civilization, literature, and science, as well as notices of some authors, and of a few remarkable works composed in the Arabic language. The litera¬ ture of the Arabs is wonderfully rich, and could not be discussed in this Essay. Hammer-Purgstall and other European, besides hosts of indigenous authors, have written many volumes on it. EDWARD REHATSEK. INTRODUCTION. The various phases in the existence of nations, such as their first developments, their vigour, and their de¬ cay, have aptly been compared with the three princi¬ pal stages of human life, namely, youth, virility, and decrepitude. According to the dispensations of Pro¬ vidence, many nations have played their part in the theatre of this world and have vanished into non-exist¬ ence, if not oblivion. Such were those of Ancient India, Persia, Assyria, Babylonia, Rome, and Greece. Power, dominion, civilization, the sciences and the arts, have left the East and have migrated to the West, whence their powerful rays are again beginning to fe¬ cundate and to revive the lands of their birth. Although countries may intrinsically possess the germs of intellectual development, their progress on the road of civilization would nevertheless be but slow were they compelled, either by isolation or by fanati¬ cism, to fall back upon indigenous resources alone ; in fact there exists no example in history of any nation having risen to power without taking advantage of ex¬ traneous means. One of the brightest examples of this kind on record is that of the Abbaside Khaliis of Bagh¬ dad and the Ommiades of Cordova. 1 B 2 INTRODUCTION. TKe great physical power of the Moslems had manf* fested itself very early in their extensive conquests, hut that alone would undoubtedly have been quite insuffi¬ cient either to enlarge or to maintain them. Coming into frequent contact with the Greeks, in peace and war, in commerce, by embassies, and in almost daily in*° tercourse, especially in Asia Minor, but more particular¬ ly i n Syria, which had entirely become subject to them, the Arabs perceived that many arts and sciences flourish-' ed among the Byzantines which were either not at all , or but imperfectly, known to themselves. This state of things naturally engendered a desire to possess all the advantages connected with an advanced stage of civi¬ lization; and though they considered the Greeks inferior to themselves in some respects, they were compelled to bow to tbeir superiority in others, and especially as far as the higher sciences were concerned. They found that although their Greek contemporaries were, as a na¬ tion, in a state of decline, they had inherited from their ancestors treasures of inestimable knowledge. The impetus given by the enthusiasm and fanaticism of the triumph of the religion of Islam over all obstacles gave rise also to that immense tendency to expansion the consequence whereof resulted in the conquest of Syria, Egypt, and Persia. In the earliest stages of Mu¬ hammadanism nothing can be said of civilizing or scien¬ tific impulses, and the only pursuits which may be call¬ ed literary were poetry, and jurisprudence based on the INTRODUCTION. 3 Koran,—Abu Bakr having been the first ferent meridians, and his astronomers were divided into several bands to carry out his orders. Ebn Yunis relates that some of them carried on their operations between Wamia and Tadmor, but according to Masudi they worked between Ttakkali and Tadmor, and Abul- feda asserts that they went to the plains of Sinjar, where they measured two degrees. The nations of Europe sent out expeditions only as late as the last and the present century to ascertain the dimensions of our globe. 10 By order of the Khalif the elements of Euclid were also translated, as well as the great astronomical work of Ptolemy called in Arabic Tahryr Almajasty , of which the European nations have made Almageste. i he Moslem Alhassan Ben Yusuf and the Christian Sergius are named as its translators. From that time numerous copies of the Almageste circulated among the 18 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN Arabs., and popularized astronomical science in that great nation. Among all the learned Arabs whose commentaries contributed most to explain its various hypotheses and to facilitate its study, Thabet Ben Korra and Nagir-uddyn are quoted. The Khaiif point¬ ed out to the scholars by whom he was surrounded many labours which were not less useful than those just mentioned. His astronomers made many impor¬ tant observations, and drew up tables of the sun and of the moon more exact than those of Ptolemy; they bear his name, and are also called f verified- tables/ The Arabs did not confine themselves to observa¬ tions, the accuracy whereof modern science has often occasion to approve of; they also made great efforts to improve astronomical instruments; and when they were, by tbeir invasion of Spain, enabled to communi¬ cate to Europe the knowledge they had acquired, this powerful means of verifying their calculations and results contributed much to propagate them. 11 The astronomers who distinguished themselves most during this brilliant reign, and who most successfully realized the thoughts of the Khaiif, were Habesh-el-Meruzy, one of the authors of the tables ; Abmad Ben Kolheyr, surnamed Alfarghany, and by corruption El-Fragan; A'bdullah Ben £aleh, Muhammad Ben Musa, and Masha-Allah-el-Yshudy. Mamun encouraged also philological and historical studies, which attained during his reign the highest AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 19 bloom. He engaged the grammarian Yaliya Ebn Zayd, known by the name of Alfarra, who was the first mas¬ ter of the grammatical school at Kufah, to be the teacher of his sons. The grammarian Ebn Shumeil, who was obliged to leave Bograh because he was un¬ able to earn his daily bread, found a munificent patron in Mamun, who gave him fifty thousand dirhems on the occasion of a certain philological explanation. Two other philologers of this time must not be left unmen¬ tioned, although their relation to Mamun has not be¬ come more particularly known. One of them is Mu¬ hammad Ebn Zayyid from Kufah, known by the name of Ebn AWaraby, who, together with the singer, mu¬ sician, and poet Essahak Ebn Ebrahym Almouguly, possessed the greatest collection of philological manu¬ scripts ; the other is the celebrated pupil of Sibaweih, Muhammad Ebn Almuseyyar, usually called only Ka- trub. The high rank of Alwakidy, who was appointed Kadi of the eastern part of Baghdad, and to whom the Khalif granted also many other favours, bears testimony to the bias of Mamun towards scholars who especially occupied themselves with the history of the Arabs. Also Almadayni, who wrote the history of the Arabs down to his own time, whilst Wakidy especially collect¬ ed the traditions relating to their first conquests, seems to have been connected with the court already in his capacity as a Motazzelite. Lastly, also the historian 20 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN A’bd-ulmalik Ebn Hisham must be mentioned (although he lived in Egypt), because he has compiled the most ancient Arabic historical work which has reached us, namely, the biography of Muhammad by Ebn Essahak ; whereas the labours of his contemporaries Alwakidy and Almadayni are known to us only from extracts of Tabari and other later chronicles. 12 Muta^im succeeded his brother Marnun as Khalif, and was as ignorant as the former was learned, so that the cultivation of Greek science which nevertheless continued during his reign must be ascribed to the patronage afforded to it by some of his Viziers. It is needless here to repeat the names of the Christian physicians and philosophers who flourished under his predecessors, and were still active during his reign as teachers and translators. The Jewish physician Zayin Uttabary and his son Hassan ATy Ebn Sahl must, however, not be passed over in silence; the former translated not only medical, but also philosophical and mathematical works into Arabic; the latter afterwards made profession of the Muhammadan religion, and was the teacher of the celebrated physician Razy. Alkindy, a portion of whose works is also known in Europe, studied at Boc^rah all the Indian, Greek, and Persian works known in his time; he soon made himself master of the Greek authors in their original language, and became celebrated as a translator of their philoso¬ phical and mathematical works, as well as a com- AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 21 mentator, and an independent author of medical and of astronomical writings. He had already been called to Baghdad by Mamun; and at the court of Mota^im, from whose reign the beginning of the gradual decay of the Abbasides may be dated, he enjoyed the highest consideration. Alwathek, the son of Mota^im, was a profligate and intolerant Khalif, who nevertheless found eulogists among the Shia’hs, because he protected the family of ATy, and liberally salaried poets. JaTer, the brother of Alwathek, was at his inaugura¬ tion surnamed Almutawakkil. He was a feeble, wicked, and intolerant prince, who adopted the tenets of the Sunnis, and persecuted and killed persons speaking evil of Abu Bakr, O’mar, and O’thman, in the same way as Mamun had punished those who doubted of the excel¬ lency of A’ly; and whilst formerly those who professed the Koran to be existing from all eternity suffered persecution, now those who asserted that it was created were capitally punished. But although this Khalif acted contrary to the most important religious and political dogmas of his predecessors, he imitated them in his encouragement of bards, poets, and scholars. The physician Bakitchu Ebn Jabryl was one of his most intimate companions, and acquired during his reign the dignity of a prince, as well as the treasures of a king, but fell A.H. 244 (A.D. 858) into disgrace, was exiled to Bahrein, and deprived of his whole fortune. He 22 4J -4 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN was probably himself the cause of his reverses, which he had brought on by his immoral life, by his boundless extravagance, and by his temerity towards the Khalif. Israyl Ebn Zakrya Uttayfury, a distinguished Christian physician, also lived at the court of Motawakkil. Abul Hassan ATy Ebn Sahl, the author of several medical and philosophical works, administered the highest pub¬ lic offices during the reign of Motawakkil. Stephanus the younger, the famous translator of Dioscorides and of Galenus, as well as Habeish Ebn Alhasan, the disci¬ ple and nephew of Honeyn, also lived at the court of this Khalif. The physician and alchemist Thouban Ebn Ebrahym, known by the name of Dulnoon Almigry, was by the Khalif called from Egypt to Baghdad. It is true Abu OThman Amr Ebn Behr, the author of a History of Animals and of other works, was, as the friend and pupil of the Vizier Ebn Alzeyyat, imprisoned when the latter was capitally punished, but was soon released, and was, on account of his multifarious knowledge, afterwards appointed by Motawakkil to be the teacher of his son, but was again dismissed, only on account of his frightful ugliness, but with a gift of ten thousand dirhems. Also the physicians and translators mentioned already above, such as Honeyn, his sonEssahak, and John Mesva, the fathers of Greek learning among the Arabs, were still active under Motawakkil, and enjoyed from him the same support granted to them in former times by Mdmun. AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 23 Although, some of the former Khalifs had died violent deaths, now murders and poisonings follow each other closely. Motawakkil, Motazzi, and Mohtadiwere assas¬ sinated ; Mantager, Motahnmed, and Motadhidare said to have been poisoned; and Moktadir, during whose reign to the previous losses that of the whole of the African possessions was also added, was slain by a eunuch. Religious and political factions raged; the Khalifs were swayed by them like unsteady reeds in a gale, and yielded their authority to individuals stronger than themselves, whose puppets they became. Hence it is no wonder that so turbulent a period was unfa¬ vourable to civilization and learning. Nevertheless, the life of Muhammad Ben J&ber, whose Latinized name is Albatenius, shows that even in those disturbed and fanatical times religious prejudices were occasionally set aside in favour of ability and science. He was not a Moslem; on the contrary, he professed the Sabaean religion, in spite of which he was appointed governor of Syria. He was born in the town of Battan, in Mesopotamia, and was therefore called Elbattany, by which name he is generally known in Europe. The precise epoch of the birth of this great man is not known, but it is certain that he flourished about fifty years after the Khalif Almamun, i.e. about A.D. 880. Like the majority of Arab mathematicians, he specially cultivat¬ ed astronomy, the study of which he prosecuted with the double ardour of religious feeling and of thirst for 24 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN knowledge. All his observations were either made at Antioch, or in the town of Rakkah in Mesopotamia, whence he is by some old authors called Mahometus Aractensis. This illustrious astronomer adopted nearly the systems and the hypotheses of Ptolemy, but he rec¬ tified them in several points, and made some discoveries besides, which procured him a distinguished place among the scholars whose labours have enriched astronomical science. Muhammad Ben Jaber approached much nearer to the truth than the ancients as far as the movements of the fixed stars are concerned. Ptolemy made them pass through one degree only in one hun¬ dred years ; the Arabian astronomer makes them pass through that space in seventy years, and according to modern astronomy they need seventy-two years. Se¬ condly, he measured the greatness of the eccentricity of the solar orbit, and a more correct result cannot be obtained. He determined it to consist of 3465 parts, the radius consisting of 100,000 ; and this calculation agrees with several modern astronomers. To the work containing all his discoveries he gave the name of Zij Saby , which was translated into Xiatin under the tittle s De scientia stellarum/ the translator of which, as one of his biographers justly remarks, knew neither Arabic nor Latin. The first edition of it appeared at Nuremberg, A.D. 1537, but it is believed that the original is in the library of the Yatican. Muhammad Ben Jaber was classed by Lalande among the forty-two AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 25 most celebrated astronomers of the world. He died, according to AbulFaraj, A.H. 317 (A.D. 929). Abul Hassan ATv, surnamed ( tbe son of tbe Greek, whose works the famous Motannabbi learnt by heait, was born A.H. 221 (A.D. 836). The time of his death is not certain; it took place between A.H. 2/6 and 284 (A.D. 889 and 897), during the reign of the Khalit Motadhid, by order of whose Vizier he was poisoned. His only occupation was poetry, and he left hassidahs, as well as small poems of the panegyrical and satirical kind. The just mentioned poet had a very great regard for Ebn Almutazz, who flourished during the reign of Muktadir, and wrote not only poetry, but left several works on ethics, rhetoric, music, and a history of Arab poetry. Ebn Bassarn was a famous satirist who died A.H. 302 (A.D. 914) ; and Ebn Allallaf, the blind poet, enjoyed high favour with the Khalif Motadhid. One of the most celebrated poets of this epoch, who wrote also on philolog’y and grammar, was Ebn Doreyd. His Mahsurali was edited by Boysen with a Latin translation; he was born at Bo^rah A.H. 223 (A.D. 837), and lived during the Khalifate of Muktadir, whom he survived but one year. Abu Bakr Muhammad Ebn Yahya Assuly was an historian and a poet. His chief works are a history of the Karamatians, a biography of celebrated poets, and a book of the Viziers. On account of his predilec¬ tion for the race of ATy he was exiled from Baghdad 26 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN to a remote village, where he died A.H. 335 or 336 (A.D. 946 or 947). His Kitab Futuh ulbuldan, or f Book on the conquest of countries/ is known in Europe, and he died at Baghdad during the same year as the Khalif Motahnmed. Ebn Kuteiba left the Kitab Alma’arif, or f Book of Knowledges/ which is more of a chronogical than of an historical character, but contains also valuable information on the genealo¬ gies of the Arab tribes and on the civilization of his o times ; he left also other works on philosophy, literary history, and theology. He was born A.H. 213 (A.I). 828), and died A.H. 270 or 276 (A.D. 883 or 889). According to Haji Khulfali, the works of the first of the two just named historians consist merely of extracts from other chronicles, and the latter is said to have compiled the greater portion of his Kitab Alma’ arif from the historical work of Ebn Hanbal; but the case was quite different with Tabary, whose full name is Abu Jaffer Muhammad Ebn Jaryr Uttabary. He collected all the traditions current during his time and embodied them in his work, a copy of which, belonging to the Berlin library, and treating on the history of the Khalifs from A.H. 70 to 159, was used by Dr. Weil (to whose Geschichte der Ghalifen the author of thisEssay is so much indebted for his information), and consists of three strong folio volumes, but the entire work is certain to have been much more extensive, and efforts are now being made to print it from AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 27 the manuscript portions of it scattered in various libraries. These annals were more or less faithfully epitomized in Persian and Turkish ; they were also continued by the Sabaean Thabet, who brought them down to A.H. 363, and by his nephew Hilal Ebn Almuhassan till A.H. 447, and by Alfarghany as far as A.H. 479. Masudy, whose c Golden Meadows ’ have become more generally known by Dr. Sprenger’s admirable translation (died A.H. 345, A.D. 956), had promoted not only the study of history, but also that of geographical science, which was afterwards illustrated by works strictly bear¬ ing' on it, such as Ebn Haukal, Edrisi, Bakri, and a number of others critically examined by Beinaud in his edition of Abulfeda's Geography. Almubarrad, the celebrated grammarian, who was born at Bograh, and his contemporary Ahmad Ebn Yahya, who belonged to the school of Kufah, were considered the best philologers ; the former died A.H. 235, and was outlived six years by the latter. The chief pupils of these two teachers were Niftaweih and the younger Akhfash. The disciple of the latter was A’bdurrahman Ebn Essahak, who died A.H. 337, and his voluminous grammatical work bears the title “Book of the Great Collection.” Turun, a military leader and a Turk by birth, a com¬ panion of thieves and robbers, to whom he issued licenses by letters patent, attained great power, was 28 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN displeased with Almuttaki, the puppet Khalif, got his eyes blinded, and declared the throne vacant, A.H. 333 (A.D. 944). At that time the temporal power of the Khalifs extended scarcely further than the limits of the city of Baghdad. In the east the Buyides and Saman- ides reigned, and fought with each other for the pos¬ session of Bei; and in the west the Ykshides ruled, who contended 'with the Hamdanides, to whom the whole of Mesopotamia was subject, for the possession of northern Syria. In O’man, Ebn Yajih had usurped dominion, and being assassinated was succeeded by his son Nafy ; Bograh was still in the possession of the Albardy family, which had, however, become split into factions. Now the Khalifate had sunk down to a mere name, and the real masters were the Generals, even before they assumed the title of Commander-in-Chief: so that even Turun, who represented the Khalifate, had no authority beyond the capital, which had, in conse¬ quence of frequent civil wars, perpetual insecurity, famine and plague, lost its populousness and wealth. As far as philosophy is concerned, it made no pro¬ gress among the Arabs from Alkindi to Alfarabi, but by multiplied and corrected translations from the Greek it became more and more domesticated among them, and gave rise to a kind of scholastic science, which was afterwards transplanted to the West, into the domain of Christian theology. Also during this period mostly physicians taught at the same time philosophy, or AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 29 composed and translated works on mathematics and natural history. Among these especially the Sabaean Thibet Ebn Korra (already mentioned above during the khalifate of Mamun), who devoted himself at Baghdad to the study of philosophy, medicine, and mathematics, and who died a celebrated author and translator A.H, 288 (A.D. 900-1), at the age of sixty- seven years, is deserving of a place of honour among the scholars of that time. Also his son Sinan, who lived at the court of the Khalifs Muktadir and Kaher, was celebrated as a physician and a mathematician, as well as his grandson Thabet Ebn Sinan. By the side of the first, Razy, who died at the end of the Khalifate of Muktadir, deserves to be mentioned on account of his high renown as a physician and philosopher, as well as on account of his activity as an author in the various branches of medicine and philosophy. The Jewish physician Essahak Bin Suleyman from Egypt, who died A.H. 320, likewise distinguished himself. The Chris¬ tian Kofta Ben Luka, from Balbek (died A.H. 311), was an author and translator of mathematical and of phi¬ losophical works; and the ISTestorian Abul Beshr Mata, who delivered in Baghdad lectures on Aristotelian philosophy (died A.H. 329), was a commentator on Aristotle and translator of Greek commentaries. Among the pupils of Abul Beshr Mata was the celebrated Arabian philosopher Abu Ha§ar Muhammad Ebn Mu¬ hammad, known by the name of Alfarabi (from Farab 30 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN in Turkestan), who afterwards himself taught philoso¬ phy at Baghdad, and terminated his life at last at the court of the Hamdanides in Damascus A.H. 339. The greatest merit of Alfarabi consists in having made Aristotelian philosophy quite intelligible to the Arabs, although not without an admixture ot Neo-Platonist doctrines; for, although he took it as the basis of his researches, his system is, on account of the attempt to make philosophy agree with the dogmas of Islam, just as little free from internal contradictions as those of his predecessors, who based theirs on the doctrines of the Koran. As until this period Greek philosophy had been studied by the Arabs more on account of its form and its dialectics, than for the sake of its internal essence, the principal questions on which their disputations turned remained the same as before their acquaintance with the Greeks. The doctrine of the Shia’hs about the Emamship, and the doctrine of emanation connected therewith, which had been borrowed from Indian theosophy, was scientifically developed by the Neo- Platonists. The doctrine of the Motazzelites on the absolute unity of God, admitting neither of a plurality of attributes nor of an uncreated Koran, which had been a subject of dispute already before the time of the Abbasides, received by the aid of Aristotelian dialectics a systematic form; as well as the polemics concerning the liberty of the human will, which was on AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 31 the one hand advocated to such a degree as to deny all interference of divine activity in human affairs, and was on the other, by the Jabarites, disallowed to such an extent as to degrade man to the state of a thing having neither power nor will. Only at the end of the period which now engages our attention Abul- Hassan Alashari (died between A.II. 330 and 340), the apostate Motazzelite and founder of the scholastic dogmatism of Islam, stepped forth as a mediator, and attacked with dogmatical and dialectic weapons the other doctrines of the Motazzelites as well as of pure philosophy; and probably to his great authority the stagnation in the domain of philosophical research among the Arabs of the Bast till the time of Avicenna, as well as the gradual decline of Motazzelite doctrines, must be ascribed. Although Abu A’ly Husseyn Bbn A’bdulla Ebn Syna, known in Europe by the name Avicenna, cannot be called an Arab in the strict sense of the word, having been born at Assenah, a village in the vicinity of Bo¬ khara, A.H. 370 (A.D. 980), yet, as he wrote in that language, and was one of the most famous scholars, he ought to be mentioned in this place. This scholar, extraordinary by his knowledge and by the prodigious activity of his mind, was for a long time known in Europe only by the name of “ the Hippocrates of the East.” His medical works are not scarce even in India, and the best Arabic edition of his “ Canon’ 32 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN seen by the author of this Essay was lithographed at Lucknow A.H. 1265 in two goodly quarto volumes, each consisting of more than five hundred pages. Ebn Syna was, however, not only a great physician; the mathematical sciences also are indebted to him for several works, which allow us at least to see the point of view whence these high sciences were considered by the Arabs, and the degree of perfection they had attained among them. The life of Ebn Syna, which was full of labours astonishing the imagination by their number and by their importance, and was permeated by catastrophes and strange adventures, much resem¬ bles the histories of those fantastic and marvellous personages delineated in the “ Thousand and One Nights,” which bear so faithful a stamp of the national genius of the Arabs. Ebn Syna manifested at an early age the powerful intellect with which he was endowed. He was eighteen years old when he had terminated all his studies in the various sciences which were afterwards to become the objects of the works admired in his country, and his titles to glory. At the age of twenty-one years he had composed an encyclopaedia, to which he afterwards added a commentary consisting of not less than twenty volumes. He was fond of travelling, and visited several countries of the East; and, announced by his renown, he was by turns the favourite of princes and the object of persecution. When first physician and vizier of AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 33 Majd-ud-Doula, a Sultan of the dynasty of the Buyides, he was twice deposed and thrown into prison. These various changes of fortune to which he was subjected are attributed to circumstances dishonourable to his character, and justified by the epitaph which a poet en¬ graved on his tomb. He was much inclined to excess in wine, and debauchery, and it appears he betrayed his benefactor to ATa-ud-Doula, the prince of Ispahan, an enemy of the Sultan who had received and overwhelm¬ ed him with honours. After four years of a hard cap¬ tivity he succeeded in eluding the watchfulness of his jailors,and found an asylum with this sameA’la-ud-Doula, whose service he entered. Amidst these dangerous ad¬ ventures, and in spite of the sorrows inseparable from an.agitated life, Ebn Syna did not neglect his scientific labours. His taste for study and his activity were such that he himself testifies of never having allowed one day to elapse without writing fifty leaflets. The list of manuscripts left by him and existing in various libraries in Europe amounts to a considerable number. We possess of him a “Dissertation on the systematic division of sciences,” a Collection of astro¬ nomical observations,” a complete “ Treatise on mathe¬ matical sciences,” and a “ Collection of mathematical and philosophical tracts.” The last scholar to be mentioned in this chapter is also one known to learned Europeans, by whom he was called Alhazen; his full name is, however, AlhassanBen 34 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN Hassan Abor ATy Ben Albaytliam : be was a native of Bocrab and a celebrated mathematician, but lived in. Egypt at tbe court of tbe Kbalif Elhakem about A.H. 400 (A.D. 1009), and died at Cairo A.H.430(A,D. 1038). Astronomy and optics were bis special study, and in this respect be deserves to be mentioned witb distinction among tbe men of bis nation whose labours and research¬ es have contributed most to spread light and science in Europe. We have from him a " Treatise on Optica,” some portions of which manifest great scholarship, and happy attempts to explain phenomena occurring in his time. That book may be recommended in another respect also; it may be very useful to the literary and critical history of the sciences among the Arabs, the progress of which it summarizes in a table of die know - ledge attained by that illustrious nation. His optics, translated from the Arabic and united with those of Vitellion, were for the first time published at Basle A.H. 1572 by Risrner, under the title of <( Thesaurus Opticae.” The effeminacy and imbecility of the majority of the later Khalifs, together with the internal and external wars which raged almost without interruption, weie detrimental to civilization and to the pursuits of science ; and various sovereignties independent of each other having gradually sprung into existence, such as the Khalifates of Bograh, Kufab, Khorasan, Persia, Egypt, Spain ; &c., the government of the Khalifs, as already AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 35 mentioned above, at last extended scarcely beyond the limits of the city of Baghdad, which became a prey to perpetual bloodshed and rapine, so that the following words of Ebn Sayd, applicable to it in its bloom, now became only a sad irony:—“Baghdad is certainly the capital of the world, and the mine of every excellence ; it is the city whose inhabitants have always been the first to unfurl the banners of knowledge and to raise the standard of science; indeed their subtlety in all branches of learning, their gentle manners and amiable disposition, noble bearing, acuteness, wit, penetration and talent are deservedly praised.” The observant reader will in the decline and fall of the Abbasides perceive many analogies with the decline and fail of the Roman empire; excessive luxury and wealth coupled with subsequent effeminacy, want of concen¬ tration and want of patriotism, brought on factions and encouraged the attacks of foes in Rome as well as in Baghdad; and the characters of some emperors as deli¬ neated by Suetonius find their parallels in the wicked Khalifs of the Abbasides, the thirty-sixth, or according to others the thirty-seventh of whom, Almostagem Billah, lost his life, A.H. 656 (A.D. 1258), when Baghdad was besieged and taken by the Mongol chief Holagu, the grandson of Jengiz Khan. The Mongols devastated the country, and utterly extinguished its civilization. 36 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN CHAPTER II. A general view of history and science under the Ommyade Khalifs of Cordova. A.H. 92 (A.D. 710-11). Simonot thinks that the narrative of the seduction of Count Julianas wife or daughter by King Roderic, in consequence whereof the former is said to have invited the Arabs to invade Spain to avenge himself, is a pure fable; but Pascual de Gayangos states (vob i., p. 514) that an Arabic author of the 10th century, who calls Ilyan a merchant, mentions that Roderic had done violence to his daughter, although historians of a later date say nothing about his misunderstanding with the king. Dr. Weil quotes the following passage from Ebn A’bdulhakam, the oldest Arabic source on the conquest of Spain :—“ Tarik fought for some time there [in Africa, in the region of Tangiers], and this was in the year 92 [A.D. 710]. At the place of crossing between if and Andalus [the Arabic name for Spain, derived from Vandalus] there was a man of the Ajam [foreigner] whose name was Bilian [Julian] and who was lord of Sebta; he was also appointed over a town on the crossing-place to Andalus, which was called Alkhadra [the present Algesiras, called by the Arabs Jazirat-Alkhadra, f the green isle'], towards the side of Tangiers. Bilian was subject to Loderik AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION, 37 [Roderic], the lord of Andalus, who dwelt at Toleitalah [Toledo]. But Tarik entered into an epistolary cor¬ respondence with Bilian, and flattered him till they became friends. Bilian had, namely, sent one of his daughters to Loderik, the lord of Andalus, to care for her education, but he had made her pregnant. There¬ fore Bilian, when he obtained the news, said, e I can¬ not punish him for this infamous deed except by lead¬ ing the Arabs into the country/ Accordingly he sent a message to Tarik, and offered himself to bring him to Andalus/ ; The chief of the Arabs whom Julian had invited to cross the straits was Musa; whose General, Tarik, landed with five thousand men at a place since called Gibraltar, corrupted from Jabal- Tarik, f the mountain of Tarik/ Despising so small a number, Roderic contented himself with sending against himEdecon,—according to others Theodomir,— one of his lieutenants, who was beaten and obliged to flee; but Tarik had obtained reinforcements, and besides was in correspondence with Julian and some other trai¬ tors, among whom was also the son of the last king, Vitiza; but the battle, in which the king was present in person, and which had almost been won, was lost as soon as the traitors passed over to the side of the enemy. The words of A ? bdulhakam, p. 114 (Weil, p. 523), are as follows:—“"When Tarik landed, troops from Cordova met him, who had learnt that he had but few men with him. After a hard fight they were, however, beaten 38 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN back and pursued by Tarik as far as Cordova. When Loderik heard this, he started from Toledo, and both armies met in a place called Shiduna [Sidonia, after¬ wards called Xeres, two leagues from Cadiz], in a valley at present named the valley Umm Hakim. There a sanguinary engagement took place, until God, whose name be exalted ! killed Loderik and his people.” Further on (p. 115) the same author writes :—“ Some relate that Loderik marched against Tarik when he was yet on the mountain, and when Loderik approached, Tarik met him. Loderik was at that time on a royal throne borne by two mules; he was covered by a canopy ; on his head he wore a crown, and on his body other ornaments, as is usual with kings. Tarik, with all his companions, marched against him on foot,—there was not a rider among them; they fought from sunrise till sunset, and thought it was their destruction. But God killed Loderik and his people, and granted the victory to the Musalmans. In the West there never was such a murderous battle, and the Musalmans did not lift up the sword from them (from the Christians) for three days. Then they started to Cordova.” Tabari (as now accessible to us) has only the following few lines on the conquest of Spain:— ff In the year 92 (A.D. 710-11) Tarik Ebn Zayyad, a manumitted slave of Musa Ebn Nusseir, undertook an expedition to Andalus with 12,000 men, and met the king of Andalus. He was a man of the inhabitants of Issbahan [Spain], and these AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 39 were the kings of the foreigners of Andaius. Idriniyuk sat on the royal throne, had a crown on his head, and a tent with all sorts of decorations. A sanguinary battle took place, until God killed [Roderick], Andaius was conquered yet in the year 92 ,; [A.D. 710-11]. The victor rapidly pursued his successes. The town of Esiga (spelt Ecija by Weil), which had afforded a momentary asylum to the fugitives, was besieged, taken by assault, and all its inhabitants massacred. A detachment of seven hundred cavalry surprised Cor¬ dova. The Arab army reached the walls of Toledo, which was at that time the capital oi the kingdom, and now surrendered to the enemy on Honourable conditions. Seven churches were retained for Chris¬ tian worship, and in general the Arabs showed them¬ selves to be magnanimous conquerors ; their generosity perhaps facilitated the conquest of Spain, which they completed in less than one year, and to accomplish which it had taken the Romans and the Carthaginians two centuries. Count Julian and the sons of Yitiza insisted on the realization of the secret treaties they had made with the Arabs; but the latter, being no longer in want oi traitors, among whose number even the archbishop of Sevilla was counted, replied to their solicitations by the manifestation of the most perfect scorn. Those Moslems had a more just feeling of true honour than some modern governments, which have not blushed 40 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN to overwhelm with favours men who have broken their oaths in face of the whole of Europe, by abandoning their standards on the eve of battle. Tarik had acquired great glory, of which Musa, his chief, became jealous. Disgrace, and even ignominions punishment, was the price for the services which he had rendered. Musa passed into Spain A.H. 93 (A.D. 711-12) and subjugated Sevilla, with Merida, which still resisted. The conditions of the surrender were that the churches should be equally divided be¬ tween the two religions. But a great many Catholics had fled to the moun¬ tains, carrying with them the bones of their saints. Theodomir, a warrior celebrated by former victories, became their leader, attacked the Arabs, obtained successes, and signed a treaty which allowed to his companions in arms a kind of independence by means of a slight tribute. Thus the first nucleus of opposi¬ tion was formed, which several centuries afterwards overthrew the power of the Arabs. Musa, having become master of Spain, wished to pe¬ netrate into France, but was recalled to Damascus. He left Spain A.H. 95 (A.D. 713-14), carrying with himself all the booty, and a great number of prisoners. As he performed the journey from Ceuta to Damascus by land, partly because he had to arrange many things in Africa, partly because ships were wanting to transport him, with the army, the slaves, and the prisoners, whose AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 41 number amounted to nearly thirty thousand persons, one year elapsed before he reached Damascus. During his journey he was everywhere received like a conqueror, and the Arabs who heard of his arrival crowded around him to behold the Gothic prisoners and Andalusian curiosities which Musa brought in thirty carriages and on the backs of innumerable camels. He had not yet arrived in Damascus when Wolyd died, and the Khalif Suleyman, his successor, condemned Musa, who soon afterwards died in misery, to a fine of one hundred thousand dinars. Thus another injustice avenged that of which this old general had himself become culpable towards Tarik his lieutenant. Rivalry between the Ommiades and the Ahbasuies . AbduWziz, the son of Musa, had retained the govern¬ ment of Spain. His marriage with Egilona, the wife— but according toA’bdulhakamthe daughter—of Roderic, irritated the Christians and the Moslems, and he was assassinated. AyubEbn Habib,his successor,was after six months followed by Al-Horr, and then by Al-Samah, who crossed the Pyrenees and conquered the French provinces which obeyed the Gothic monarclis. The banners of the Moslems were erected on the coasts of the Gulf of Lyons, on the walls of Narbonne, of Nimes, of Caracassonne, and of Beziers. Afterwards the Arabs advanced as far as the plains of Tours. Perhaps the whole of Europe would have been subjugated had not 42 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN Charles Martel gained a great victory over them near the last mentioned town (Ramadan A.H. 114, October A.D. 732), The historians of those times have record¬ ed that three hundred and fifteen thousand Moslems were slain in that battle. This number is certainly much exaggerated ; the victory of the French was, how¬ ever, complete and decisive. In the East the rival dynasties of Ommia and of A’bbas disputed for the supremacy, with arms in hand, from the Indus to the Euphrates. The quarrel was set¬ tled on the banks of the Zeb, and the Abbasides were victorious. A'bdurrahman, an Ommiade prince, took refuge in Spain, a portion whereof declared itself in his favour. The antagonists fought, the Ommiades were conquer¬ ors in their turn, and A’bdurrahman founded the king¬ dom of Cordova. A.H. 138 (A.D. 755). At this epoch a very remarkable period begins in modern history, and we are astonished at the spirit of gallantry manifested, - at the magnificence displayed, and at the progress made in the arts and sciences, by the Arabs of Spain. A'bdurrahman, who was indebted to his sword for his sceptre, constantly occupied himself with the public welfare. He encouraged the sciences and the arts, pro¬ tected agriculture and commerce, and treated Christians AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 43 with meekness. The country passed rapidly from a state of poverty and desolation to one of comfort and prosperity : such is the influence of a good government! Impartial justice and truly paternal care suffice in a state of peace, which can often be very easily main¬ tained, to raise a nation to a high degree of splendour. Then, how culpable are the men who, placed at the head of affairs, manifest violence and injustice, and sacrifice to their little passions and to their private hatred the dearest interests of a country,—tranquillity, indepen¬ dence, and liberty! Prosperity and reverses of the Ommiades. A.H. 171-238 (A.D. 788-852). The kingdom of Cordova became flourishing, and a few disastrous wars undertaken against the Christians who had found a refuge in Asturia did not interrupt its constantly increasing prosperity. A ; bdurrahman died, justly regretted, after a reign of thirty years. His son Hesham showed himself worthy to tread in his father's steps. He loved the arts especially, was him¬ self a skilful architect, and a bold stone bridge was thrown across the Guadalaquivir, according to the plan which he had drawn. A’bdurrahman II., his grandson, embellished Cordova with several remarkable monu¬ ments. To this prince the establishment of a library containing six hundred thousand volumes is attributed, but the reader will be inclined to reduce this number 44 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN greatly when he considers that printing was not yet invented at that time. A.H. 238-350 (A.D. 852-961). A century afterwards, the pomp and magnificence of the reign of A'bdurrahmdn III. astonish the imagina¬ tion. That prince kept six thousand three hundred wives, concubines, and black eunuchs, and never went out without being accompanied by twelve thousand horsemen whose girdles and swords were covered with gold. The palace and the gardens of Azzahra, con¬ structed in honour of his favourite wife, cost immense sums of money, and around the royal palace and grounds a town sprang quickly into being, which was situated between the foot of the mountain and the plain that extends to Cordova, at the distance of about three miles from the furthest limits of the city. Ebn Khalle- kan (Gayangos, i. 233), in his biography of illustrious men, under the article “ Almutammed Ebn Abbad, king of Sevilla,^ has given the dimensions of this wonderful city; his words are as follows :—“ The city Azzahra was one of the most splendid, most renowned, and magnifi¬ cent structures ever raised by man. It stood at a dis¬ tance of four miles and one-third from Cordova; it measured 2700 cubits in length from east to west, and the breadth from north to south was 1700 cubits. The number of columns in the building amounted to 4300, and that of the doors to 15,000. In the raising of this AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 45 sumptuous building Annacir lavished countless trea¬ sures, since it is reported that the revenues of Andalus in the days of this Sultan amounted to 5,400,800 gold dinars collected from taxes, besides 765,000 derived from markets, exclusive also of the fifth of the spoils taken from the enemy 14 , and the capitation-tax levied on Christians and Jews living in the Moslem dominions, the amount of which is said to have equalled all the rest. Of this income Anna§ir appropriated one-third to the payment of the army, one-third was deposited in the royal coffers to cover the expenses of his household, and the remainder was spent yearly in the construction of Azzahra and such other buildings as were erected under his reign.” At present no vestige of Azzahra exists. It will, no doubt, be believed that the life of Abdurrahman was only a long series of enjoyments and pleasures; but after the death of that prince the following writing was found :—“It is more than fifty years that I have reigned, in victory or peace. Being beloved by my subjects, feared by my enemies, respect¬ ed by my allies; having honours, pleasures, riches, and power, I possessed everything which may contribute to the happiness of man here below. I have carefully counted the days during which I was really and perfectly happy; their number does not exceed fourteen.” At that time the royal city of Cordova contained 13,000 houses for the common people, besides half that number for government officials, six hundred mosques, 46 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN and nine hundred baths. The extent of the city is said to have been twenty-four miles long and two broad. Ibnu Bashkuwal says that “ the palace of the king was an ancient building inhabited in former days by the infidel Sultans who had ruled over the country. The interior of it (as well as the adjoining buildings) was full of primeval constructions, and wonderful remains of the Greeks, Romans, and Goths, and the interior apartments were so constructed as to dazzle with the beauty of their ornaments the eyes of the beholders. This palace the Khalifs of the house of Merwan chose for their residence, and tried to ornament and embellish by all possible means, adding new rooms and filling them with elegant rarities. But this was not the only improvement which the sovereigns of that family made in their capital, for they left in Cordova everywhere traces of their wise administration, planted, delightful gardens, supplied the city with water brought from the distant mountains, and furnished the capital with abundance of provisions of all sorts. The water thus brought from the mountains was conveyed to this palace, and thence distributed into every corner and quarter of the city by means of leaden pipes, from which it flowed into basins of different shapes, made of the purest gold, the finest silver, or plated brass, as well as into vast lakes, curious tanks, amazing reservoirs and fountains of Grecian marble beautifully carved. In this place, too, was an astonishing jet d’eau which AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 47 raised the water to a considerable height, and the like of which was nowhere to be seen in the East or West/’ Eighty large towns and three hundred less considerable ones acknowledged the authority of the Khalif. Twelve thousand villages covered the banks of the Boetis, which assumed the name of Guadalaquivir 15 ; and agriculture, with the products of the mines, enriched that happy country. A.H. 350-366 (A.D. 961-976). Hakem, the successor of Abdurrahman III., loved the sciences, founded the university of Cordova, and collected a library of great magnitude,—said to have consisted of 400,000 volumes, which is scarcely credi¬ ble. He was just and virtuous, but nevertheless aban¬ doned in one single instance the principles which habitually guided him, although he made good his fault nobly. A poor woman had a small field which she had inherited from her ancestors. She refused to sell it, but was violently deprived of it for the pur¬ pose of enlarging the garden of the prince. The Kadi wished to remedy this injustice, took a bag, mounted a donkey, and presented himself before the Khalif, who was sitting in a magnificent kiosk built on the usurped territory. He first asked for permission to fill his bag with earth, and then requested the Kha¬ lit to aid him in putting the bag on the ass. Although Hakem was greatly astonished at this singular demand. 48 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN he complied with the desire of the Kadi, but could not avoid making a remark on the excessive load. “ Prince/’ said Bakir,—the name of that courageous magistrate deserves to be remembered,—“this bag contains but a small portion of the ground of which thou hast unjustly deprived a poor woman. Then how wilt thou be able, on the day of judgment, to suf¬ fer the pain, which will be in proportion to the extent of the field which thou hast usurped ?” J6 Far from taking offence at this bold reprimand, Hakem acknow¬ ledged his error, and restored the field with all the buildings he had erected on it. A.H. 366-399 (A.D. 976-1009). This prince left the throne to Hisham Almuyad Billah, a son of immature age, during whose minority, which was troubled by intestine war, the kingdom was governed by the celebrated Vizier Muhammad Abe- namir, surnamed Almancur ( f the victorious’) on account of his bravery. In six consecutive campaigns Abenamir covered himself with glory, but the Chris¬ tians made him lose at Medina-Coali his reputation of being invincible, and he was unwilling to survive his defeat. From that epoch the power of the Arabs con¬ tinued to decline in Spain, and was at last restricted to the limits of the kingdom of Granada only. As the events which elapsed during nearly three AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 49 centuries after those briefly sketched in the preceding pages are not very brilliant, and mark no peculiar epoch in the history of civilization, it will perhaps be best to pass to the last episode of the Arab power in Spain. At a time when the Moslems stood most in need of union, grievous dissensions broke out among them, and discord has often been the harbinger of the fall of kingdoms. Thus the Jews at Jerusalem, and the Greeks at Constantinople during the Lower Empire, were fighting amongst themselves, whilst Titus stood under the walls of the former, and Muhammad II. under those of the latter city. A bdullah the son of Hussein revolted against his own father, and the blood of Moslems flowed in the quarrels of the two princes, during which the Christians took possession of several important towns. Muham¬ mad Elzagal stabbed his own brother A^bdul Hussein, usurped the throne, and abdicated soon afterwards. A’bdullah, covered with wounds, surrendered Loya by capitulation, and retired to Granada, where his authority was acknowledged. During the tempestuous reign of this monarch a re¬ markable catastrophe took place, which has been seized upon by romance-writers and poets. The Zegris, those knights of romance, who by their deadly feuds with the Abencerrages (Beni Serraj) hastened the fall of Granada and the ruin of their country, were certain, powerful families, who, after the taking of Saragossa K 50 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN and other cities in Arragon (Thagar), sought refuge in other Muhammadan states, and settled for the most part in Granada, where they were known by the pat¬ ronymic of Zegris (Thagrioon). These two powerful families showed their enmity on every occasion, but the Abencerrages carried their point in magnificence and bravery; and Hamed, one of them, enjoyed the whole confidence of the sovereign. But that credulous monarch lent an ear to the calumnies of one of the Ze¬ gris, who made him believe that the Abencerrages were meditating a conspiracy against his person ; he also accused Hamed of maintaining’ a criminal correspon¬ dence with the queen, and affirmed that he had sur¬ prised them together in the most familiar position. Jealousy and fear made A’bdullah unjust, perfidious, and cruel. He swore to destroy the Abencerrages, invited them to his palace, and as they entered the Court of the Lions they were murdered by the Zegris, and in this manner thirty-six of the Abencerrages perished. The rumour of this horrible massacre soon spread in the city of Granada, everybody ran to arms, and the streets were inundated with blood. At last, however, calm was-restored; the king declared his motives for having acted thus, and announced that the queen would be burnt alive after the expiration of thirty days, unless she could produce four champions to fight four of her accusers and come off victorious. This was, no doubt, a strange way of ascertaining the culpability or in- AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 51 noeence of a person, but such was the usage of the times, and, absurd as it is, it was adopted from the Arabs and often practised by Christians. The queen entrusted her defence to the swords of Christians. She wrote to Shacon, the lord of Cartha- gena, named him her champion, and invited him to bring three of his valiant friends. On the appointed day Shacon, the duke ol Arcos, the duke of Aguilar, and Don Ferdinand of Cordova presented themselves, armed according to the manner of the Arabs. The combat was fatal to the Zegris; one of them, when expiring, confessed his crime and the innocence of the queen. A bdullah manifested the liveliest regret, but could not calm the resentment of the princess, who retired to Africa, and the indignant Abencerrages also left Spain. This tragic event likewise contributed to enfeeble the Moslems, who waged an unfortunate war against king Ferdinand. All their strongholds had, one after an¬ other, fallen into the hands of the enemy, who was de¬ termined to bring about their ruin, and who had made the greatest sacrifices to attain this object. Isabella, who enjoyed in Castile an authority almost independent of her husband the king, had procured troops and money; so that, strictly speaking, the flourishing kingdom of Cranada no longer existed. Its limits extended but a few leagues around the capital, which Ferdinand came to besiege with an army of sixty thousand men, animated by success, and still more encouraged by the presence h 2 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN of the queen. In the beginning the siege was very muderous, but was afterwards transformed into merely a blockade of the place. The camp of the Christians con¬ sisted of huts covered with straw and reeds. The queen, who was in the habit of reading during a portion of the night, inadvertently set it on fire. In lieu of the camp reduced to ashes, a town, which received the name of f Ebn Joljol adds, “ Having from my earliest youth shown the greatest inclination to become "well acquainted with the Materia Medica (by Dioscorides), which is the foundation of the know¬ ledge of compound medicaments, I was led to investi¬ gate the subject with the utmost care and attention. This I did, until God, in his infinite bounty, was pleased to grant me the means of attaining the object of my washes, and accomplishing my purpose, which was to preserve the names and description of many medicaments which I feared would be forgotten, and the advantages resulting from them lost to mankind : since God has created the means of restoring health to the body of man by disseminating them in the plants which cover the surface of the earth, in the quadru¬ peds that move on it, in the fishes that swim in the 62 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN water, and in the birds that fly through the air, and in the mineral substances that lie hidden in the bowels of the earth; and by permitting that all these things should be appropriated to the cure of diseases, as a proof of his extreme mercy and kindness.^ Ebn Joljol left the following works :—1, A com¬ mentary on the names of the simples used in medicine which occur in the books of Dioscorides, written at Cordova A.II. 872 (A.D. 982) ; 2, Another work treating of those simples which may be used in medi¬ cine but are not mentioned in the books of Dioscorides; 3, A Risaleh entitled “ Declaration of the errors com¬ mitted by physicians in the cure of diseases;^ 4, A bibliographical work dedicated to the Khalif Hisham, containing the lives of eminent physicians and philo¬ sophers born in Andalus, or who practised in that country. One of the last scholars who adorned the period of Arab dominion in Spain was Abul Walid Muhammad Ebn Muhammad Ebn Roshed, known in Europe by the name of Averroes. He flourished during the twelfth century, and taught philosophy and medicine at Cor¬ dova, sciences which appeared at that time inseparable from each other, and those who practised them were considered by the common people to possess almost supernatural knowledge. The epoch of Averroes is that of the decadence of political dominion of the Arabs in Spain, an epoch during which that great nation AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 63 lost also tlie taste for sciences which it liad brought to Europe. To judge from the prodigious number of his works, Averroes, who was, besides, the Em am and Kadi of Cordova, must have led an exceedingly labori¬ ous life. He is the author of the Arabic version of Aristotle, but it is not the first translation which exist¬ ed in that language, as some of his biographers affirm, since that labour had been accomplished at Baghdad already during the brilliant khalifate of Mamun. We possess various manuscripts of Averroes which contain treatises of physics and of pure mathematics, of astro¬ nomy and of astrology; for, in spite of their encyclo¬ paedical knowledge, the celebrated men of those an¬ cient times were not above all the popular errors. At that time science was surrounded by a kind of supersti¬ tious respect, to which Averroes, like many others, is indebted for the greatest portion of his renown, and for the halo of glory which surrounds his name. The majority of his works have been translated into Hebrew, and some of them are to be found in the celebrated library of Rossi. The national library of Paris pos¬ sesses as many as twenty-seven commentaries of this scholar on Aristotle, and various smaller mathemati¬ cal treatises. Gayangos (I. Appendix A, pp. xxi.- xxiii.) gives the titles of forty-two works of this au¬ thor. Averroes died A.H. 595 (A.D. 1198), but the precise time of his birth cannot be ascertained. From what has preceded, it may be seen that the 04 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN epoch which goes in Europe by the name of the Dark Ages, and was there really an epoch of ignorance and servitude, embraces the most brilliant period of the history of the Arabs. When those European knights, who were as brave as they were ignorant, followed millions of armed pilgrims to the East, who were led by religious enthusiasm, they imagined that they were going to fight barbarians scarcely worthy to fall under their noble swords. But they had to deal with a nation which was as valiant as it was enlightened, and Arab civilization triumphed over that formidable at¬ tack. The first crusade under Peter the Plermit was a miserable failure, resulting in his flight to Constanti¬ nople, and in the extermination of the whole army. The succeeding ones were better organized, and esta¬ blished among much rapine and bloodshed the preca¬ rious tenure of several fortified places and of Jerusalem, which they held for nearly a century, and then lost the footing they had obtained in the Holy Land, and had been able to retain only by means of a constant supply of soldiers, treasure, and victuals, from England, France, Germany, Hungary, and Italy. The Chris¬ tians brought, however, back from the East ideas that germinated in Europe, and afterwards concurred in the intellectual re rival. This was the best result of the Crusades, and it bears most eloquent testimony to the providential direction which social history underwent in Europe from that time. AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. CHAPTER III. The revival of learning in Europe, It seems to be a law of nature that in the same man- ner as certain dynasties cease after a time to produce great men, so also nations become effete, lose their en¬ ergies, and do not recover them until they have become intermixed with others. This circumstance, connected with the great luxury, effeminacy, and contempt of learn¬ ing in the Western Empire, was one of the many causes of its fall, which was completed by the irruptions and devastations of the Huns, Goths, and other barbarian hordes. The Latin language, however, and the com¬ munication that all parts of Europe kept up with the see of Rome, prevented the total extinction of the spark of learning which was still feebly glimmering, although on the other hand extraordinary delusions and superstitions dimmed even that, nor was there any security of life and property where bloodshed and war raged • and com¬ merce, one of the great instruments of civilization,could not develop itself, but was cramped within the narrow¬ est possible limits. The chaos of barbarism, strife, poverty, and confusion, however, gradually disappeared in Europe when the in¬ undations of war ceased, and regular governments be¬ came firmly established in various countries. Then monarchs bethought themselves of promoting civiliza¬ tion. The revival of learning began among Euro- F 66 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN peans in the tenth century after Christ, and is chiefly attributed to the writings of Arabian doctors and philo¬ sophers, and to the schools which they founded in several parts of Spain and Italy. These seats of learning were frequented even in the twelfth century by students from various parts of Europe, who disseminated the knowledge thus acquired when they returned to their own countries; and at that time many Arabic books were translated into Latin, which facilitated the progress of science. Also great men and sovereigns patronized learning, such as Charlemagne, Pope Sylvester II., and others. Fred¬ erick II., the Emperor of Germany,caused the Almagest& of Ptolemy to be translated; and Alphonso X., king of Castile, ordered astronomical tables to be drawn up, and for this purpose lie assembled many Arab, Jew, and Christian astronomers at Toledo, such as Essahak Ebn Sayd, Alkabitk, Aben Ragel, Aben Musa, Muhammad, &c. Alphonso was himself an able astronomer, and to this day the chamber where he made his observations is shown at Segovia iu the Alcasar or palace. Gradually the ardour in the pursuit of learning in¬ creased more and more. The university of Paris be¬ came famous iu the eleventh century, when Abelard lec¬ tured, who numbered twenty cardinals and fifty bishops among his hearers; and A.D. 1201 there were three thousand students in Oxford. Bologma, however, may claim a higher antiquity than either of the two just men¬ tioned seats of learning; it was chiefly remarkable as a AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 67 school of Roman jurisprudence, and enjoyed the protec¬ tion of Frederick Barbarossa, who allowed the scholars to be tried in civil suits by their own judges. This ex¬ emption from the ordinary tribunals, and even from those of the Church, was naturally coveted by other aca¬ demies ; it was granted to the university of Paris by its earliest charter from Philip Augustus, and to Oxford by John. From this time the golden age of universi¬ ties commenced, and it is hard to say whether they were favoured most by their sovereigns or by the see of Rome. The numbers of the students mentioned appear to be exaggerated, especially for Oxford, which is said to have counted thirty thousand scholars in the time of Henry III. 17 The scholastic philosophy of Aristotle receiv¬ ed through the Arabs, but afterwards also translated from the original, constituted the chief point of at¬ traction in these seats of learning • it has, however, been exploded centuries ago, and the works treating on it are quietly sleeping in our libraries. Even the vernacu¬ lars of those times are forgotten, and none except philo- logers care at present for the Langue d 7 Oil, the Langu© «FOc, the Norman, or the Anglo-Saxon tongue, the tales, the romances, the fabliaux, and other productions of the once celebrated troubadours have become mere matters of curiosity of little value. On the other hand, Dante Alighieri may be called the founder of the Italian lan¬ guage, and Petrarch the Ovid of Italy. The English language began to develop itself somewhat latei*, because 68 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN the Norman conquest greatly depressed the natives of that country, and even after the loss of Normandy the French idiom continued to be used in the higher classes till the year 1290. 13 The addition of Geoffrey Chaucer, who was born in 1328, to the just mentioned two poets completes the triumvirate of great poets in the Middle Ages. Inland commerce alone cannot much increase the wealth of nations ; accordingly, even after internal secu¬ rity had been to some degree established in Europe, it flourished only when various countries had begun to trade with each other by sea, and the Atlantic, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean became the highways of it. In those times wool was the chief article of export from England, which was exchanged for the manufactures and linen of Flanders, France, and Germ any,and for the silks of Italy. In the thirteenth century the invention of the mariners compass, the discovery whereof is claimed by several nations, facilitated navigation, which became from that time more secure. The progress of commerce, civilization, and learning naturally influenced the moral character of Europe for the better, but this amelioration it is impossible to trace out, as Hallam (Europe during the Middle Ages, ii.435) truly remarks, “ We cannot from any past experience indulge the pleasing vision of a constant and parallel relation between the moral and intellectual energies, the virtues and civilization of mankind. Nor is any prob- AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 69 fern connected with philosophical history more difficult than to compare the relative characters of different gen¬ erations, especially if we include a large geographical surface in our estimate. Refinement has its evils, as well as barbarism ; the virtues that elevate a nation in one century pass in the nest to a different region ; vice changes its form without losing its essence ; the mark¬ ed features of individual character stand out in relief from the surface of history, and mislead our judgment as to the general course of manners ; while political revolu¬ tions and bad constitutions of government may always undermine or subvert the improvements to which more favourable circumstances have contributed.” Therefore, in judging of the civilization of a whole continent, not single instances or localities, nor snort periods of time, must be taken into account, but aggregate results. For bv following an opposite course of proceeding, or a bias to detract from the merits of the present state of civili¬ zation, we might still adduce instances of barbarism, of oppression, and of superstition which may even now be pointed out in Europe, and might thus jump to the one-sided conclusion that it is still groaning in the bonds of ignorance and tyranny, and not constantly advancing in the path of civilization. When two or more nations come into long and close contact with each other, it is a natural consequence that they will, to a certain extent, influence each other in many things; the stronger and more cultivated will not 70 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN only bestow its civilization and sciences, but will from its language engraft many words, and even whole locu¬ tions, on the weaker nation, the former being active and dative, the latter almost entirely passive and receptive. This influence we have at present every day before our eyes in the effect of British rule in India, in consequence whereof numberless terms of the arts, the sciences, and of law have found their way into the vernaculars, which have in their turn enriched the English language in ' Hindostan only with paltry words like batta, bungalow , Icit, nuddi, &c. If, however, one language exerts its in¬ fluence on another not orally only, but mostly in literary compositions, and if that influence has ceased to act for many centuries, but has nevertheless not become obli¬ terated during the onward and incessant progress of civilization till the present time, and is abundantly proved by many words of that tongue surviving in for¬ merly receptive but now dative languages, if is one sign among many that the tongue which had formerly manifested such a mighty power of influencing others, and of engrafting its own vocables on them, and has left such permanent traces of its superiority, must have enjoyed the advantage of high culture in the sciences most useful to man, who, whenever he is wise individu¬ ally, or collectively as a nation, will most earnestly and zealously lay hold of them, and study them with all his might for the promotion of his moral and physical wel¬ fare. That the Arabic is such a language, and in some AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 71 measure also the Persian, is most abundantly proved by many scientific and other terms incorporated from them ir to the European languages. The author of this Essay has taken the trouble to collect and alphabetically to arrange a list of such words, which is particularly rich, in Arabic expressions still current in the Spanish lan¬ guage, because the Arabs inhabited that country for more than seven centuries ; and the reader will find that all the weights and measures, as well as the words desig¬ nating receptacles for water, whether for the purpose of drinking or for irrigation, at present in use in Spain, and to some extent also in Portugal, are all derived from Arabic. 39 The arithmetical figures known by the name of (( Ara¬ bic numbers” commenced to be generally known in Europe during the eleventh century, and they even now greatly resemble those used by the Moslems. Arabic numbers. In their original form :— In their Europeanized form :—1 2345 6 7 8 90 From a comparison of these figures it appears that, for the sake of greater convenience in writing them, the Europeans have but slightly altered the forms, and have merely turned the positions of the numbers f f and V, have made additions to & A and to ♦, which are now 5, 8, and 0, and have left 1 and ^ nearly unchanged. The general belief is that these figures are originally Arabic, and have been received as such from the Arabs RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN fT<> t /-J by Europe; some think that the word Hindiseh, oiten used to designate the science of numbers among' the Arabs, has nothing to do with Hind or India, but is derived irom the Persian jLudazah, $j?Ai { measure ; but in the present state of knowledge there can be no doubt that the Arabs learnt these signs from tho Hindus. The figures from “one” to “nine” are the- abridged farms of the initial letters of the names of these numbers, and “ zero” is the initial of the Sanskrit word spr, shunya 20 , in ancient Sanskrit characters. / / Algebra, which is derived from jabcr, c to set, to strengthen/ with the article al prefixed, will also remain a perpetual monument to the former skill of the Arabs in that science. It is also customarv to write on tablets strewed with dust, jhi ghubdr , and therefore this name seems also to agree with the etv- mology of abacus, the Greek a/ Sag, which may be de¬ rived from the Hebrew aba/c, dust, and may be the origin of the csj^l v Alhisdb alghubary, c dust- calculation/ The system of ancient French measures dates only from the time of Charlemagne, who substituted it for the Roman, The foot of Paris appears to be onlv an altered copy of that of the Arabs, which was divided into twelve inches, and the inch into twelve lines. Six feet formed a toise and a German Ivlafter, which is equivalent to the 1 step/ f «>* of the Arabs. AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 73 The Arabs excelled in many trades, but especially in the art of preparing leather, which was a great branch of industry at Cordova: hence a particularly nice leather is still named cordovan on the continent of Europe, and shoemakers are in the English law still called cordwainers. The celebrated Greek fire, which was extremely destructive, and the mode of preparing which is now lost, was well known to the Arabs, and some historians of the eleventh century who were pre¬ sent during the crusades in the Holy Land state that they used it against the Christians with fearful effect. The textile fabrics and embroidery, as well as the manufacture of arms, attained great celebrity and perfection among the Arabs, and everybody knows even in our times the cloth called damask, Damascus sabres, and damaskeened gun-barrels. The beautiful manuscripts of the Arabs gave a great impulse to caligraphy in Europe, and the illuminated missals, chronicles, and romances of those times are still highly prized. Carrier-pigeons were so extensively used in the time of Harun-Arrashid that they were in Europe called Bagadat. The game of chess was also brought to Europe by the Arabs, as the names of the figures testify, as well as the last move, which is called mat, “ he died.” Also several athletic and equestrian games are of Eastern origin, and cricket seems to be a variety of the play called chug an in Persia. Even architecture was greatly influenced by the Arabs, and some of their ^ RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN best specimens are still extant in Portugal, Sicily, and Spain, in bridges, churches, palaces, and public buildings, but above all in the famous Alhambra, which is a monument of durability and eleg’ance. The Arab style modified in some respects Gothic architecture during the Middle Ages, but did not form a particular order in the art. It is in part only a development of the same principle. Its indentations, its fantastic or¬ naments, and its elegant foliage by no means affected the Gothic system which the Arabs practised in Europe with their national genius. The Christians adopted it in some of their monumeuts, because at that time the Arabs were alone in possession of the sciences, and exercised in Europe so great a social influence that it extended itself to the arts also. There exists, however, in Europe still a kind of architecture called the Sara¬ cenic, i.e. Arab style. M ith the useful arts and sciences the Europeans learnt also irom the Arabs those which were useless and detrimental; such were astrology, alchemy, blood- revenge, magic, and trial by ordeal. Of the latter in its execution by fire, which is called purgatio vulgaris, or judicium ,—in opposition to helium or combat, which was the other form of purgation,—there exists, however, an example as early as the fourth century. Simpli¬ cius, the bishop of Autun, had, before his promotion to the episcopal chair, married a wife who loved him ten- derly, and who, unwilling to quit him after his advance*- AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 75 ment, continued to sleep in the same chamber with him. The sanctity of Simplicius suffered, at least in the voice of fame, by the constancy of his wife's affec¬ tion ; and it was rumoured about that the holy man, though a bishop, persisted, in opposition to the eccle¬ siastical canons, in tasting the sweets of matrimony ; upon which his wife, in the presence of a great con¬ course of people, took a considerable quantity of burn¬ ing coals, which she held in her clothes, and applied to her breasts, without the least hurt to her person or her garments, as the legend says; and her example being followed by her husband, with the like success, the silly multitude admired the miracle, and proclaimed the innocence of the loving pair. A similar trick was played by St. Brice in the 5th century. In England an offender, on being arraigned and pleading not guilty, had it in his choice to put himself upon God and his country,—that is, upon the verdict of a jury,—or upon God alone, on which account it was caked the judgment of God, it being presumed that God would deliver the innocent. The more popular kinds of ordeal were those of red-hot iron and water,— the former for freemen and people of fashion, and the latter for peasants. That by fire, as practised here, was that persons walked barefooted and blindfold over nine red-hot ploughshares ; and if the accused man escaped unhurt he was acquitted, otherwise condemned. The ordeal by water was of two kinds, namely, either cold 76 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OP EUROPEAN or hot water. The former was when the suspected person pat his arm or leg into scalding water and brought it out unhurt; and the latter, when his body was, contrary to the course of nature, not borne up by the water. 21 Europe had to thank the Arabs for the follies of judiciary astrology, as well as for many important and really scientific works. Everything was considered to depend upon and to be ruled by the planets, and as late as the fifteenth century people were guided by astrology, until the true system of the world was dis¬ covered, which alone inflicted upon it the greatest blow. Even at present there are many remains of superstitions current among the unlettered classes of Europe, such as soothsaying, interpretations of dreams, discovering thieves by sorcery, &c., but they are everywhere discountenanced, and must soon disappear for ever. As the other portions of Europe gradually emerged from darkness and ignorance, the Arabs of Spain be¬ came so weak and powerless that A.H. 983 (A.D. 1526) Charles V. ordered them to adopt the Spanish language, and from that time their existence as a nation finally ceased in Europe. Literature began likewise to decay among the Arabs, and it became customary with their authors to mix up all sorts of superstitions and unreliable information with their ac¬ counts. Thus Kazviny informs us in his A'jdyib-ulbul - AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. dan, or “ Wonders of Countries/’ that the table which Tarik found in Spain had originally belonged to king Solomon the son of David. 22 In the same work we are also informed, on the authority of A’bdullah Ben Ohnru Ben Ala - ’ass, that between India and Sind there is a country called Kutara, which possesses a duck of brass, standing on columns of brass, and that on the tenth of the month Muharram the duck spreads its wings, and stretches out its beak, and water pours forth sufficient for their fields, cattle, and pastures till the next year; which might be a metaphor concerning the Monsoon rains, but is nevertheless too absurd even in that sense, 23 He gives also an account of a voyage from Bograh to China on the authority of Sal¬ man the merchant, but the second portion of the nar¬ rative is so obscure that the places must be guessed at; in Lane’s translation of the “ Thousand and One Nights” there is, however, a very good explanation of ' this voyage given in the notes, as far as an explana¬ tion is possible. In the Ajay ib 'ulmukhlukat, or “ Won-*- ders of created beings,” Kazviny also tells us that in the island of Yak there is a tree on which human heads are growing, which shout Vdk Vale, alhamdu lillah ullchal- lak ! “ Yak, Yak, Praise be to God the Creator !” Such a fable would suit the Thousand and One Nights, but not a work professing to give historical and scientific information. On the other hand the Sheikh Ebn Batuta gives in 78 RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN liis travels most truthful and reliable accounts of everything he saw; he went from Tangiers, his native city, to Hindostan, the sovereign of which country attached him to an embassy to the emperor of China with which he did not proceed, on account of the long delays that took place, but he afterwards went to China on his own account. At Calicut, which was then a great fort, he waited three months to set sail for China, “ for there is only one season of the year in which the Sea of China is navigable. Nor then is the voyage undertaken except in vessels of the three following descriptions The greatest is called a Junk tlie middling size a Zaw j j, the smallest a Ko- °> / ka m f'Z. The sails of these vessels are made of cane- reeds woven together like a mat, which when they put into port they leave standing in the wind. In some of these vessels there will be employed 1000 men_600 of them sailors, and 400 soldiers.’' 34 This was peifectly true in his time, but after the Portuguese established themselves in India, Chinese junks ceased to come. Aftei wards learning was so much neglected by .Mos- ieins that in peace and in war the works of many authors were totally lost by fire, by water, by damp, by the depredations of insects, and by carelessness. This remark applies especially to works translated from the Greek, which were of an instructive more than of AND MUHAMMADAN CIVILIZATION. 79 an amusing character. In later times even the biogra¬ phies of the Greeks were altered or forgotten, so that at present scarcely more than a dozen remain. The lives of the following are recovered in the Raudatupafa of Mirkhond and in the Habyb ussear of his son Khon- demir; but I shall in my review follow the list of the former work, of which the latter is only an abridgment, containing scarcely any alterations :— Solon the philosopher ojh™- Pythagoras the philosopher d> j ^plLi. Socrates the ascetic ^fj is I jk* Diogenes the cynic yiz. Plato the divine u^b I'ii. Aristotle the son of Nicomachus Oa.&.Uc j&o Hippocrates the physician Homer the poet i^rjrh*j I Zeno u* j^p c^Jlb jHj Ptolemy the philosopher Thales Milesius ^bi/o Tf* • +3 p* 0 ) m U2 CO 00 J>. 43 Ph . • s 3 a 4 g s i ■ 'M CO 00 A o & s 00 (M CO a d S c 8 Oj •U ^ o3 _-*e I - o co ^ co ^ GO . ^ *> d >“3 CO r—* 00 S P* (D . co d tj* t>;(M a i o •2 o (N? dso> d GO GO w , e rl -i -3 o 2 o -< N „ SJ - a co 03 S > >> _ CO CO • ^ r-t C3F 5 S 5 ® jS 00 ® 30 . 03 OOr) 05 CD CM O o •M £ o3 £■ lO * Ch 1 - 43 O 00 s ec g> C3 ^ 43 • 8 : C <1 . o co C3 ’E P, <{ » CCJ i—t 04 CO 03 1 ° ZZ r—I -e «o rM | _ o I • • t> he r-l rj < CO OO 03 •d & ■s^ 00 O £ CU -*1 co • •r5 CO 33 o ! I m 4 in ^ eo co 05 V-gsjq P ■< NOTES. 117 The table of Eutvchius ends with Radi, and that of Dr. Weil with Moti, but for the sake of completeness I here insert all the remaining sovereigns till the end of the Khalifate of Baghdad 23. Al Tai, A.H. 363-381 (A.D. 974-991), deposed.—24. Al Kader, A.H. 381-422 (A.D. 931-1031).—2d. Al Kahn, A.H. 422-467 (A.D. 1031-1075).—26. Al Moktadi, A.H. 467-487 (A D. 1075-1094).—27. AlMoktader, A.H. 487-512 (A.D. 1094-1118). —28. Al Mostarshed, A.H. 512-529 (A.D. 1118-1135), murder¬ ed by the Assassins.—29. Al Rashid; A.H. 529-530 (A.D,. 1135-1136), likewise murdered.—30. Al Moktafi, A.H. 530-555 (A.D. 1136-1160), defeated and imprisoned in an iron cage.— 31. Al Mostanjed, A.H. 555-566 (A.D. 1160-1170).—32. Al Mostadhi, A.H. 566-5/5 (A.D. 1170 : 1180).-33. Al Na$er, A.H. 575-622 (A.D. 1180-1225).-34. Al Zaher, A.H. 622-623 (A.D. 1225-1226).—35. Al Mostanper, A.H. 623-640. (A.D. 1226-1240. 36.— Al Mosta’gem, A.H. 640-656 (A.D. 1240-1258), killed at the taking of Baghdad by Holagu. End of the dynasty, which continued, however, as a spiritual power in Egypt till A.D. 1577. The following is a short chronology of the dynasty of the Gmmi- ades preceded by the first Khalifs Muhammad the Prophet. Born A.D. 571, died A.D. 632 (A.H. 11). Abu Bekr, A.H. 11-14 (A.D. 632-634). — O'mar /., A.H. 13-23 (A.D. 634-643).— O^thman, A.H. 23-35 (A.D. 643-655).— A li, A.H. 35-40 (A.D. 655-661).— Hasan, A.H. 40-41 (A.D. 660- 661), not counted by some historians, because he yielded his power to MoaViah. Hasan was poisoned A.H. 49. 118 NOTES, Dynasty of the Ommiades. I. Moa’viah A.H, 41-60 (A.D. 661-679).—2. Yezid I. r A.H. 60-64 (A.D. 679-683).—3. Moa’viah IL, A.H. 64 (A.D. 683), deposed after a reign of six weeks.—4. Merwan I., A.H. 64-65 (A.D. 683-684).—5. Abdelmelik , A.H. 65-86 (A.D. 684-705).— 6 . Walid I., A.H. 86-96 (A.D. 705-715).—7. So- lirnan, A.H. 96-99 (A.D. 715-717).— 8. Omar IL, A.H. 99-101 (A.D. 717-720).—9. Yezid II., A.H. 101-105 (A.D. 720-724).—10. Hashem, A.H. 105-125 (A.D. 724-743).—11. Walid IL, A.H. 125-126 (A.D. 743-744).—12. Yezid III., A.H. 126 (A.D. 744).—13. Ibrahim, A.H. 126 (A.D. 744). —14. Merwan II., A.H. 127-132 (A.D. 744-750), end of the dynasty. In the arrow-headed inscriptions of Darius the word Inna is used for the Ionians and the Greeks of the islands. Among the Hebrews lavan, like liman among the old Egyptians, designates the Greeks. Among the Greeks themselves this name is post- Homeric. The meaning of the word is ‘young’, which has in Sanskrit, Zend, Latin, &e., transformed itself into juvan and juvenis. (Lassen’s Indische Alterthumskunde, I. 729-30.) Rumi was with the Arabs and Persians the name for the Greeks contem¬ poraneous with them. G This embassy and the present of the elephant I find also mentioned by an author of the eleventh century, William, Archbb shop of Tyre, in the Gesta Dei per Francos, Hannoviae, 1611. p. 630, who quotes the following passage from a biography of Charlemagne :— Cum Aarum rege Persarum, qui , excepta India totum NOTES. 119 pene Orientem tenebat, talem habuit in amicitia concordiam , ut is gratiam eius, omnium qui in toto orbe t err arum erant regum a c principum amici ties preeponeret, solumque ilium honorare ac magni- Jicentia sibi colendum indicaret. Ac proinde cum leqati eius quos cum donariis ad sacratissimum Domini ac Salvatoris nostri sepal - chrum, locurnque resurrectionis miserat, ad eum venissent, et ei do- mini sui voluntatem indicassent , non solum quee petebantur fieri permisit, sed etiam sacrum ilium et salutarem locum, ut illius potes- tati ascriberetur concessit, et revertentibus legatis suos adjungens, inter vestes et aromata, et emteras Orientalium terrarum opes, mgentia illi dona direxitcum ei ante annos paucos eum quern tunc solum habebat, roganti mitteret elephantem. Which passage Itrans- )ate as follows : With Harim the king of Persia, who, excepting India, possessed the whole li I j Vadyalkabyr, which has the same meaning, and was transformed by the Spaniards into Guadalaquivir, its present name. 16 I think when the Kadi spoke these words, he had in his mind the verses of the Koran, Surah Zalzalah, s. 30, v. 24 :— ' I ' Z.I X / / / O 0/0/ O / / S / / --0/ 55/ / /o o/o/ o// j'** c i J j $ ji 122 NOTES. Sale’s transl., ch. xcix., p. 496: “And whoever shall have wrought good of the weight of an ant shall behold the same : And whoso¬ ever shall have wrought evil of the weight of an ant shall behold the same.” Fluegel, vv. 7, 8. 17 Hal lam, Europe during the Middle Ages, II. 482. ls Ibid., p. 513. 1 9 List of Arabic and of some Persian words adopted into the European languages during the revival of learning, and still cur¬ rent in them. A Abalorio, Sp., glass beads; Ar. 1 Albalur , beryl stone, used as a synonym for glass or crystal. Apafeha, Sp., a brass plate; Ar. sul .f ace . Acharnar, name of a beautiful star of the first magnitude at the extremity of Eridan. Acidaque , Sp., from Ol^^l dowry assigned by a husband to his wife. Adalid, Sp., from oJ-J Jsj ( a g U i^ e> Adarga, Sp., from I a short light shield made of buffalo- hide. Adarme, Sp., from a drachm. A dive, Sp., from ^ I wolf, jackal. Adobarf 8 P*» from **^1 tanning, ‘ puerta de Adabaquim,’ idobo 1 j Alerze, Sp., from jj | pine-tree. NOTES. 125 Alfacca, also called Alfeta, a star named Lucida corona , from Alfaherero, Sp., potter, from j Is- 8 -' | Alfajeme, Sp , a bleeder, from Alfanje, Sp., a short cutlass, from I Alfaqui, Sp., a theologian, a lawyer, from Alfondigci, Sp .,fondaco Ital., from Alforja ) Alforza $ a travelling bag, from a rent or opening, Algaba, Sp., a quiver, from AytsrS Algaida, Sp., a forest, from Algali, alkali, nitre, — Algalia, Sp., a scent, from «!UlUl| Algarot, antimonial part of the butter of antimony. Algebar, the constellation Orion, j Us J Algebra, a part of mathematical science, Algedi, the constellation Capricorn ; now only the star y of it, Algenah, the wing, name of a star of the second magnitude in Pegasus, ^ U:sr^| . ) Algeneb, the side of Pegasus, Sr** 1 ? I side. Algesiras, name of a town, | Algodao, Port., cotton, from | applied to a magazine where that commodity is stored ; in Bombay and other places formerly belonging to the Portuguese the word has been Anglicized into 126 NOTES. “ godown,” by which name a place where any kind of goods are kept is designated; although the Portuguese word, like its Arabic prototype, means only cottoD. 5 11 % Algomeyza, name of Procyon, a star in Canis minor, i< Algorab, star marked y in the constellation Corvus, crow. Algorithm, calculation, but probably derived from the debtor, in accounts. Algol, Medusa’s head in the constellation Perseus, J^*J( Algosarel, wild carrot, from j y> Alguacil, Sp., derived from I vizier. Alguaqidda, Sp., dealer in matches, from ^ f < Alhabibe, Sp., chamberlain, from <*-*.*> Alhaioth, also Ahhatod, but more correctly Alayuq, j**] I name of the beautiful star Capella in the constellation Auriga. Alhandal, colocynth, Alheal, cardamom, Alhena, Sp., | the shrub called Cyprus or privet, a decoc¬ tion of the branches of which is used by women to dye their nails and eyelids (Gayangos, I. 513). ... • ♦ Alhondiga, same as alfondica , O I Alhoot , ! a l so corrupted into Allot, Aliath, Mirach , &c., is the first star in the tail of Ursa major, marked e. NOTES. 127 Alidade, in astronomical and surveying instruments, is a rule of wood or metal; moveable, and bearing at each of its extremities 5 / a pin by which objects are looked at • <4 meaning also any- ** thing sharp-pointed, and the limits of objects or of countries ; the s sin». is *>i ; also iron. A lino , aliilar, derived from Alhena, q. v. Alkameluz, a name given by some authors to the star Arcturus ; the name given to it by the Arabs was Alrameh, I j\ Aljaima , Sp., a hut of conical shape in vineyards, from tent. Aljava, Sp., quiver, from Aljernbut , a species of acacia. Aljibe , Sp., well, from * AIjofar, string of pearls, from | | jewels. Aljuba, Sp., a kind of waistcoat, from | but some of the Arab horse-dealers who come to Bombay call their long robe by this name. Conf. Fr. jupe, jupon. Alkermes, plant with a beautiful red juice, crimson, y*> jki f Alloza, Sp., almond, Almadia, Sp., raft and ferry-boat, Almagest, the title given by Europeans, after the Arabs, to the treatise on astronomy composed at Alexandria by Ptolemy about A.D. 140. The name is formed from the Greek word fx^yicrrov- 128 NOTES. very great, which the Arabs have transcribed by adding their arti- cle al into j Aimak, a star of the second magnitude in the foot of Andro¬ meda, | Almallafa, Sp., a cloak with sleeves, from | a wrapper. Almazara, in Spain a mill principally for grinding olives, from £ | a press. Almenara, Sp., steeple, from hence also the Angli¬ cized minaret. Almicantarats or Almucantarats , small circles parallel to the horizon, which are conceived to pass through all the degrees of the meridian; their centres are situated on the perpendicular line that connects the zenith of a place with its nadir. They are also called circles of altitude, because they serve to mark the height of a star above the horizon. The word is of^.kxiijf forming vaults in the form, of a bridge. Almidana, Sp., from | a place for exercising troops. Alminar , see Almenara. Almizcle, Sp., musk, from Almocaden , Sp., from almuqaddam , leader of the van. Almojaver, Sp., a soldier employed in border warfare, j j l**Jj Almojabena, Sp., a sort of cheese-cake, from cheese. Almoneda, Sp., sale by auction | the crier being called v 15 Almotazen, Sp., by changing the final b into n from Mohtesib, an officer having care of the weights and measures. NOTES. 129 A ImO'Varife, f gp These three words are derived from Almoxarifar ^ to collect the fruits, therefore the collector is Almoxarifazgo ^ called AhnoJcharef. Almud, Sp., measure of grain, from mucld, which may be itself a corruption from the Latin modius, Almunici, Sp., a garden, a spot of recreation, &AJ j Aloe, |y | and «5f Alpheraz , more correctly Alfars, 0*^1 the Horse, a name given to the constellation Pegasus, as well as to that of Equuleus, or ‘ small horse.’ They are distinguished by the names ^UJ| ‘ the greater horse,’ and jjn jii I j's Alzarac , coarse brown camphor. Amanar, preeminence of one planet over another, jU*j f Ambergris, j'M Anemon, the name of a well-known flower. Anoria, Sp., a Persian wheel, from 'ijyt Wl Arak, a certain spirituous beverage, also oil of roses, metaphori¬ cally from (jj£ the etymological meaning of which is ‘ sweat,’ and secondarily ‘ liquor.’ Arjil, Sp., knight in the game of chess, from Ja&J| the ele¬ phant. NOTES. 131 Arrabal, Sp., a suburb, from An ah el, Sp., a species oi violin, from . < L?_« French rebec. Arraez , Sp., captain, from ! Arras, Sp., thirteen pieces given by the bridegroom to the bride, from ^ wedding. Array an, Sp., sweet basil, from J| Arrecifeh, Sp., causeway, from vJu*> j paved road. Arrel and Arrelde, Sp., pound, from tJ'-bj Arrooa, bp., one-fourth part of a Kintar, q. v. Arrope, Sp., a species of sweetmeat, from Arsenal, derived from house of construction; passed also into English, French, German, and Italian. Aruz, jj\ rice. Atabud, Sp., bier for a corpse, from o Atalaya, Sp., watch-tower, from the pi. of &uEb At a nor , Sp., lamp, from j | oven; in alchemy, furnace. Atarazana , same as Arsenal, q. v. Atuda, Sp., tutty, a mineral product of Granada, Uiy Auquia, Sp., an ounce, from j\ seemingly from Gr. ovyda. Axarafe, Sp., a hilly country, from I Azafate, Sp., a tray, from Js Azof ran, Sp. ^ a f { Derived from | yellow, but applied to xm.Z(aJ VCLil&V f ' horses it means black. Azofranado J Azemila, Sp., a beast of burden, J 132 NOTES, AzeTia, Sp., a sort of water-wheel, from Ax' LJ f a camel em¬ ployed in carrying water for irrigation. Azequia, Sp., canal for irrigation, from j) | ^ ^ I j river of the pomegranates, •» near Carolina. Guadarrama, from c Uff | ^ d l j river of the throwing, near Madrid. Guitar, from cyther (q. v.) by hardening the c into a guttural. 138 NOTES. H Halo, from U> shattyah. Safareche, Sp., a reservoir for purposes of irrigation, ^ j 4^ Saffron, ^ |Fr., Ital., Germ., &c. Salamander, from a certain fabulous animal. Sandia, Sp., water-melon, abridged from tefahus - si ndy. Seal, Lat. sigillum, Ar. Soap, originally made of a kind of earth exported from Smyrna only. Soda, ^ | Sponge, | cnroyyos. NOTES. 143 Stable, (JUia^a | crrafiXiov. Sugar, jZ** Ar. Per., saccharum Lat., zucchero Ital, T Taa, a district in Spain, from Us obedience. Tabor, Eng. timbal, Fr. tambour, from Tagarino, from jii frontiers; a person from Arragon, corrupt¬ ed to Zegri , the name of certain families. ' Taifa, Sp., a body of men, from jh Traxa, Sp., edge of cloth, from j| jb skirt of a robe. Typhoon, from Probably the early navigators from Arabia to China brought this word from the latter country; for there is no doubt that it is of Chinese origin, and is composed of fa, great, and fung, wind, and consequently means great wind , 144 NOTES. V Veredarius, also Veredus, Lat., courier, Ar. which is derived from the Per. cut, dock-tailed, the mules used for this purpose being dock-tailed. See Dr. Sprenger’s translation of the Golden Meadows of Masudi, p. 331, note. Vezier, from ji\ j X Xeme , Sp., a span, from & U> Xerga, a kind of cloth which the Arabs and Spaniards used for mourning apparel, from sherqahj hence also the Engl. serge is derived. z ZayaU Sp., probably from some African dialect, lM} a spright¬ ly or comely youth. Zaguacador , Sp., the crier in an auction, corrupted from (j | suwwctq, now a sort of market-broker. Zagudn , from an open court, and sometimes a porch. Zamarra , Sp., jackets made of the skin of the mustela scythica the Scythian weasel or sable, summoor, Ital. zimarra, Fr. simarre j any kind of skin-jacket. Zanca, Sp., the hind-leg of an animal, from aOoJ zamkah, the root of the tail in a bird. Zaque, Sp., skin of a goat prepared to receive liquids, from conjunction. (J./AVO muthasila j ci I | isarafa ^ • * -c 5 disjunction. musanja \ J / o/ naJctam (for nakla), translation. yamaya, congregation. manan, prohibition. (J^A5 kamvula, reception. (Jj-Vgairikamvila , interception. sahama, lot. | inthiha minthaha j And several more, the identity whereof cannot be verified with certainty. (Weber’s Lectures on Sanskr. Lit.) Also the division of the year into weeks, and the designation of the separate days thereof after the seven planets, among the Hin¬ dus is of foreign origin, as appears from the following statement in Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. III., p. 83 “ The earliest well authenticated mention of this division is of the year G3 B.C.. when Pompey found it in use among the Jews at the taking of Jerusalem (Dion Cassius, xxxvii., 1G, 18, and 19 ) It 148 NOTES. is based on the fact that the twenty-four hours of the day are dedicated to the seven planets in the following order :—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. If a beginning be made with Saturday, the holy-day of the Jews, then according to this distribution the twenty-second hour falls to the share of Saturn, the twenty-third to Jupiter, the twenty-fourth to Mars, and the first of the next day to the Sun, after the name of which the whole day is called. If this process be continued throughout the whole week, the names of the separate days of it (as current among all nations using the division of the year into weeks) will be the result. This manner of designating the days of the week is ascribed to the Egyptians, and wans very ancient among them, io the Greeks and Romans it had been communi¬ cated by the Egyptians. The oldest mention of these names of the week occurs in the writings of Vardhamihira, consequently only in the beginning of the sixth century (A. Weber’s Ind. Stud., II., p. 666). From this it, however, by no means follow's that these names of the week-days had, together with other astronomical doctrines, not already earlier obtained admittance among the Hin¬ dus ; but only in daily life, not in the ritual, in which the original Hindu division of the month into a light and a dark half still con¬ tinues to exist. From India the week with its days named after the seven planets has been carried to Java. But as it first originated in Egypt there can scarcely be a doubt that it was made known to the Hindus by merchants who visited their country for the sake of commerce. 31 Howard’s Cyclopaedia, III., p, 1540 NOTES. 149 "' To clear up the story of this table I will here insert the statements of several authors on it, merely as a matter of curiosity. In the manuscript of the A’jayib ulbuldan at my disposal, Kazviny writes as follows : — # V ^ k J^ 3 (jJ 3 [Is** 3 }* -3 Oj '•-b JyiA Lfji f | s$ X ^ji p **>j <*^j <5J-^J ^ ijljUwo t \ j ^j| t> G 8 ! j j I ^ l*«i j /*i£a.j i^xfj j di&b\ j ajljj^U. ^ jj j-j jU&k| yS 33) S'^r L- ^ , *-^ J j|ii3U«jti (^i^j /0*ij b^-jj _5 J 4>J & Is - ? # t ""'‘ ,w * I