First published in Great Britain in 1949 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. Reprinted three times. This edition first published in 1979 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. 39 Store Street, London WC1E7DD, Broadway House, Newtown Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG91EN and 9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA Printed in Great Britain by Caledonian Graphics Cumbernauld, Scotland  ISBN 0 7100 1903 3

(2) THE FAMILY OF SERGIUS

How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs

Damascus, the official capital of Syria, was a partly Greek city, not so thoroughly Hellenized as Antioch. It was the seat of Christian bishops who ranked next after the patriarchs of Antioch in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Syria: it possessed a school which, though not equal to those of Alexandria and Antioch, yet had attained considerable eminence by the time of the Arab conquest, and retained its good repute after that event. Amongst its alumni were the theologian Sophronius, who became bishop of Jerusalem (634-8), and Andrew of Crete (circ. 650-720), who studied there after the Arab conquest, became a monk in Jerusalem, and finally bishop of Crete. The Arabic historians say that at the time of the conquest the financial agent of the Roman government in the city was Sergius (Sarjun) who was responsible for making terms with the invaders, on which account Eutychius calls him a traitor. But the citizens, deserted by the government, had no choice in the matter and it is probable that everyone supposed that the Arab attack was no more than a raid on a large scale and that after plundering the town the Arabs would go back again to the desert. The governor of such a city normally was a financial agent whose duty it was to raise the imperial taxes and commonly bore the honora ry title of Patricius which had been granted to all superior officials by Constantine. He had been appointed by the Emperor Heraclius, but like many other officials continued in office after the Arab conquest under Mu'awiya, when he was governor of the province, and remained when Mu'awiya became khalif. Finally he acted as minister of finance for the whole Islamic state and paymaster-in-chief of the Arab army. Yet he remained a Christian, and long after becoming rrunister of finance built a Christian church, His son was treasurer under 'Abd al-Malik, and his grandson was chief minister under some of the later khalifs. The office and title of wazir had not yet come into existence.

It is said that the second member of this family purchased a sl ave named Cosmas, a monk who had been captured by the Arabs during a raid on Italy, and employed him as tutor to his son John. When Cosmas had tauhgt him all that he could he begged permission to retire to a monastery, and on obtaining leave he went to the Laura of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem. The author of this John's biography was John of Jerusalem who lived in the tenth century, a good while after the events he records, and Eke many hagiographers of the time used freely matter which would now be regarded as legendary, but the main lines of John's life seem to be reliable. It appears that this John was the son of Sergius, afterwards known as St. John of Damascus, son of an important official in the Arab state, was himself attached to the court and acted as "chief adviser" to the khalif, probably Hisham (724-743). After serving the khalif for some years John asked leave to resign, and followed his tutor to the Laura of St. Sabas where, after a period of rigorous discipline, he was ordained to the priesthood some time before 735. He died before 743. To him is due the earliest treatise on the controversy between Christianity and Islam, the "Disputatio Christiani et Saraceni" which is printed in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, xcvi, 1335-1363. This work shows that there was great freedom of religious discussion in eighth-century Damascus, and that Christians were permitted to criticize the established religion very freely. The text says, "When the Saracen says.... You reply...." John gives proof of a good knowledge of the Qur'an and familiarity with Muslim ritual and doctrine. The identification of St. John of Damascus with the son of Sarjun ibn Mansur was first made by William of Tripoli.

Theodorus Abucara (d. 826) was St. John's pupil, and he also left works on the controversy with Islam. Obviously there was unrestrained intercourse between the two religions and no reluctance was felt about discussing religious differences quite freely. It may reasonably be supposed that such intercourse introduced the Muslims of Damascus to a general knowledge of Christian theology and philosophy, and within the next following generations ideas and problems suggested by Greek philosophy appear leavening Muslim thought.

A parallel infiltration of Greek thought took place in jurisprudence so that the earliest speculations of the Muslim jurists are tinctured by theories gathered from the Roman law which itself contains elements gathered from Stoic philosophy, and thus Greek philosophical teaching was passed on to the Arabs through a legal medium. Roman law at the time of the Arab conquest circulated in the eastern provinces in Greek, and slightly modified by local conditions, but it contained the Stoic principles which the lawyers of Rome had drawn from Greek sources. Prominent among these philosophical-legal theories was the doctrine that man has an innate sense of what is just and right, of what the Stoics called the Law of Nature. This was also assumed by the early Muslimjurists who appealed to "opinion" to supplement and even to supplant the written law when cases arose for which no provision had been made. Here, however, it is to be noted that the earlier indications of this Stoic doctrine appear, not in Syria where the Roman law was established, but in 'Iraq, and especially at Basra. That the Arabs were first brought into contact with Roman law in Syria and Egypt is certain. They had conquered those provinces and found there a complicated system of land tenure, contractual law, and commercial legislation dealing with things of which the simple nomads of the desert had no previous knowledge. Much of this they adopted, indeed such adoption was inevitable, and it hencef orth was incorporated in Muslim law, It is true that there are some branches of law which had already been incorporated in Jewish, law, and those may have come through a Jewish medium to the Arabs, but it is more probable that most of the law dealing with land tenure, contract, usufruct, inheritance, and certain other matters came direct from the customary law already prevalent in Syria and Egypt when the Arabs conquered those lands and that established law which they found there was the Roman law.

In the parallel case of theology it may be noted. (1) One of the earliest theological problems faced by the Muslims was that of the eternity of the Qur'an. The older doctrine was that it was eternal, co-eternal with God. Then the problem arose, if this were so, then God is not the one source and creator of all things, for there must have been an uncreated Qur'an, like a second god, side by side with the One. This was hotly debated. The sect of the Mu'tazilites held that the Qur'an was created by God and, as the author must precede the work produced, the Qur'an must be less eternal than God. The orthodox maintained that the Qur'an is co-eternal with God, though the word in which it is expressed, like the paper on which it is written, may be created and so not eternal God. Ultimately the orthodox opinion prevailed and the Mu'tazilites became extinct, for those who now call themselves by that name in India are modernists of recent date, in no way connected with the old Mu'tazilites. The point is that in the discussions between the Mu'tazilites and those who adhered to the orthodox theory very much the same arguments are used as were employed in the Arian controversy in the Christian Church, much of this repeated in the writings of St. John of Damascus. In Christian theology the term Word "was used as a mystical name for Christ, as it was used by St. John in the fourth gospel, whilst the Muslims used the same term to denote the written word in the Qur'an, but in general the arguments are the same. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the problem involved was suggested to the Muslims by Christian theology, the teaching of St. John of Damascus, or some other.

(2) Another early problem concerned the freedom of the will. If God is almighty, then everything is overruled and directed by him. Therefore man has no freedom. But Greek ethics assumes that man is responsible only when he has free choice, and the Qur'an gives commands and prohibitions in such a way as to imply that man has such a choice. The Mu'tazilites argued that as God is just, he will only punish men when they have been free to choose and have chosen wrong. From this and the preceding point the Mu'tazilites called themselves "the People of Unity and justice", of unity because admitting only One Creator, One Source, and so asserting that the Qur'an is created, and of justice as defending the freedom of the will as necessary for man's responsibility.

(3) A third problem concerns the qualities of God. God as the sole source of all that is must be a unity, not compounded so God has no qualities or accidents, he is himself essence. The only attributes that can be predicated of God are negative, that he is eternal or having no beginning or end, that he is infinite as having no limitations, and so on. This, however, seems to be contrary to the Qur'an which does apply qualificative adjectives to God. The orthodox opinion is that these attributes given in the Qur'an may be applied to God because they are so applied, but they do not convey the same meaning as they would if applied to men, nor do we know what they imply. This was already taught by Plotinus and other neoPlatonists, and it would seem that the problem and its solution was borrowed by the Arabs from them.

At first sight it seems that these traces of Greek influence on Arab thought most likely connect with Syria where Arabs and Christians had very free intercourse; but the first traces of that influence appear in Mesopotamia towards the middle of the eighth century. Greek influence may have been applied at more than one point, or may have spread from one area to another. It must be admitted that we have very little evidence of philosophical or theological speculation in Syria under the 'Umayyad dynasty, the dynasty which began with Mu'awiya: such matters seem to, have made little appeal to Arab interest at that period. The beginnings of speculative thought in philosophy and theology and of interest in scientific research arose in Mesopotamia, and more especially in Basra, to a less degree in Kufa. These two cities were in the area where were the ancient cities of Hira and Jundi-Shapur, and it is quite possible that a general influence due to intercourse between Muslims and Christians had been engendered before the direct transmission of Greek science from Jundi-Shapur to the Muslim community had commenced.

(3) THE CAMP CITIES

After their first outspread and contact with the Roman and Persian armies, the Arabs set themselves to learn the methods of warfare used by the Romans, realizing that something different was now required from the rapid raids and retreats which had sufficed for desert warfare. The Byzantine writer, the Emperor Leo Tacticus, describes the Arabs as imitating the order and discipline of the Roman army in all details. And that was natural, for the most influential Arabs under the 'Umayyads were those of the Syrian border who had been trained as auxiliary Roman forces. At the same time it must be admitted that the Persians also had already endeavoured to copy Roman military methods. One of the new forms of warfare was the use of engineering for besieging fortified cities and for constructing fortifications for their- own defence. For this latter purpose they imitated -the rectangular fortified camp characteristic of Roman military methods. In each conquered area they planted such camp cities, often on illchosen sites. In Palestine the chief such camp city was jabia, in Egypt it was Fustat, in Ifriqiya, Qairawan. But none of these were of so great importance as the two camp cities in 'Iraq, Basra founded by 'Utba ibn 'Azwan in 635 or 637, and Kufa founded by Sa'd ibn Waqqas a little later. These played a very leading part in the history of Islam.

When the 'Umayyads seemed to be secularized and indifferent to religion, and their laxity spread, as it did, to Medina and Mecca, many of the stricter Muslims were greatly discouraged and removed from those pla es such as Medina and went out to one or other of the 'Iraqian camp cities, which thereby became the homes of orthodoxy and incidentally of resistance to a khalifate commonly regarded as disloyal to religion.

The intellectual life and interests of Basra and Kufa were directed by religion and centred in Qur'an study and theological sciences more or less connected with the Qur'an. At first these sciences were chiefly those concerned with the Qur'an text and that especially meant grammar and lexicography, but later on opened out so as to include jurisprudence, tradition, and philosophy, all to a great extent directed and tinctured by ideas gained from Greek studies. Greek authorities were not used or read, but there are clear indications that their substance had filtered through, and at Basra and Kufa impinged on Arabic culture far more than was the case in Damascus. It must not be overlooked that Hira, the great Nestorian stronghold, was not far from Basra and a good deal of its population drifted to the camp city.

Grammatical and literary studies began at Basra with Abu I-Aswad ad-Du'ali, the friend and confidant of the Prophet's son-in-law 'Ali. It naturally happened that many of the people of 'Iraq who had learned Arabic only late in life when they were converted to Islam committed many solecisms in reading the te t of the Qur'an, an these errors distressed 'Ali. So he appealed to ad-Du'ali to draw up some rules for the guidance of those who were not well used to the use of the only language permitted for prayer and reading the revealed word, But ad-Du'ali was prevented from carrying out this command by 'Ali's murder on 21 St January, 661, and he was reluctant to take any steps to assist the governor Ziyad ibn Abihi whom he regarded with disapproval because he, after serving 'Ali, had transferred his services to the 'Umayyad usurper Mu'awiya. Though Ziyad renewed 'Ali's request ad-Du'ali held back and did nothing. Then one day he heard a reader mispronounce two vowels in the text of Qur., 9, 3, so as to pervert the sense from "God is free from (the covenant of) the idolaters, and His Apostle (also is free)" into "God is free from (the covenant of the idolaters and (from the covenant of) His Apostle", and this misrepresentation of the inspired word so shocked him that he forthwith began to devise methods to prevent similar errors. For this purpose he introduced vowel points into the hitherto unpainted Arabic text and began giving instruction in the grammar and vocabulary of the Arabic language. Incidentally in doing this he seems to have been to some extent influenced by Aristotle's logic, not by any of the Greek grammarians.

From Abu I-Aswad ad-Du'ali came a regular succession of grammatical students and teachers in Basra. Nearly a century later similar grammatical lectures were commenced at Kufa by Abu Muslim Mu'adh ibn Muslim al-Harra (d. 723 or 727), who at one time was tutor to the sons of the khalif 'Abd al Malik. These two centres developed rival schools which agreed in theory, but differed in practice. As yet the works of the ancient poets, valuable in illustrating and explaining the older usages of the language, were not collected in written Diwans, but transmitted by word of mouth, often altered and interpolated in their transmission, Aware of this the Basra school did not fit in with accepted standards, whilst the Kufans carefully criticized the poetry heard and rejected that which accepted all that was heard and are said to have used a good deal of forged material, At first sight it seems that the Basri method was better, but against that it must be noted that by that method the examples were made to fit the rules drawn up, whilst the Kufi grammarians had to adapt their rules to meet the spoken use, which is sounder.

The line of oral transmission of the two schools formed a a grammatical pedigree which led down to the great Basri grammarian Abu l-Hasan (or Bishr) 'Amr ibn 'Uthman al-Harithi, commonly known as Sibawaih (d. between 783 and 816) who, it must be noted, was not an Arab himself but a Persian and compiled his grammar under the early 'Abbasids.

At Basra arose the first indications of Mu'tazilite thought, with evidence of the solvent effect of Greek philosophical speculation on Arab theology, and in 'Iraq round about Basra were the first traces of juristic theory showing evident traces of Roman law and the philosophical theories adopted by Roman lawyers. Obviously the results of Greek influence began to appear, not in Syria where the ruling Muslims were in such close contact with Christian theology and its philosophical speculation, but in Basra, though we have no direct evidence of intercourse with Greek and Christian elements there. Damascus and its court were given over to sport and politics, and theological speculation could not have sunk very deep. Basra, on the other hand, kept alive a scholarly tradition and must have been impressed by Greek teaching, possibly through Hira, more probably through Jundi-Shapur, and so shows the first traces of Arab Hellenization.

CHAPTER XI THE KHALIFATE OF BAGHDAD

(1) THE 'ABBASID REVOLUTION

MU'AWIYA had assumed the khalifate at Jerusalem in 661, but at once removed to Damascus, where he had already spent several years as Governor of Syria. At his accession began the rule of what is known as the 'Umayyad dynasty, which ruled Islam until 749. That dynasty suffered a break in 684 when it passed from one family to another, but the new family, descended from Marwan, was a branch of the 'Umayyad clan, so the monarchy remained in 'Umayyad hands, and that was the case until 744, when a second Marwan, not of 'Umayyad blood, assumed power by military force. The court and administration were settled at Damascus until 724 when the khalif Hisham removed to a country residence, and after that the khalifs went to Damascus only to be installed, and then retired to reside elsewhere, but the administration remained at the Syrian capital until the accession of Marwan II in 744. The court necessarily accompanied the khalif, but in 744 not only the court but also the administration were removed to Harran, which thus became the capital, and Damascus sank to the level of a provincial town, a change greatly resented by the Arabs of Syria.

Under the 'Umayyad dynasty the khalifate was a purely Arab state. Its intellectual output consisted entirely of poetry, largely of the old desert type, some of it so far modified as to reflect the tone of the courts of Hira and of the B. Ghassan, all in the spirit of the Jihiliya or "times of ignorance" before the coming of Islam. Its poets praised their patrons, derided their rivals and enemies, pictured the perils of the desert life, or sang the echos of ancient tribal wars, The culture and science of the Greek world found no place in their compositions, apparently meant nothing to them.

Under Marwan II the Syrian army was disaffected, the Kharijites of 'Iraq revolted and entrenched themselves in Mosul. Marwan was unable to march against them, his hold on Syria was too insecure and he had to send an army down into Arabia where there was another Kharijite revolt.

His more serious trouble, however, threatened from Khurasan in East Persia. The Persians were dissatisfied they felt that the Arab conquest of Persia had been due to a series of accidents, to domestic revolution which undermined their military organization and to the rash conduct of their youthful king. They longed for an opportunity to try issue again with those whom they regarded as half-civilized nomads. In such conditions it was inevitable for conspiracies to flourish, indeed the whole 'Umayyad period shows the community of Islam seething with dissatisfaction and ready for revolt, partly on racial grounds, resentment at the way in which the Arabs domineered over them even after they had embraced Islam, partly on religious grounds, regarding the 'Umayyads as lax in religious observance. Amongst the Persians were many adherents of the house of 'Ali, and these regarded all the khalifs, except 'Ali himself, as usurpers. They recognized the leadership only of those descended from 'Ali. The extremer 'Alids even preferred 'Ali to Muhammad himself. All these Shi'ites, as they were called, were divided amongst themselves into many sects, but all agreed in disapproving the Arabs. At length a revolutionary outbreak took form, its centre in Khurasan, but its propaganda spread by secret agents who circulated everywhere through the world of Islam, except in Spain where Muslims had their own troubles. The identity of the person who was to be set upon the throne after Marwan was deposed was kept secret until the revolution had reached a successful end, then it was disclosed that the one selected as khalif was Abu I-'Abbas of the Hashimite clan of the Quraysh tribe, the same tribe as that to which the 'Umayyads belonged. The throne merely passed from one Arab family to another.

Abu I-'Abbas was invested with the khalifate in the great mosque of Kufa on 28th November, 749, and made it his first task to exterminate the surviving 'Umayyads and their adherents, and this he did so drastically as to earn for himself the surname of as-Saffah "the butcher". Of the deposed dynasty only one young man escaped and, after incredible dangers and hardships, reached distant Spain where he became head of an independent state, and later on his descendants assumed the title of khalif in opposition to the dynasty of Abu I-'Abbas. There are stories of other 'Umayyads who found refuge in the remoter parts of Africa, but these seem to have been adherents of the dynasty, not themselves of 'Umayyad stock.

The downfall of the 'Umayyads was a definite turning-point in the history of Islam. The 'Abbasid khalifs were no less Arab than the 'Umayyads, but they had gained their throne largely by Persian help, their chief n-dnisters were Persians more often than Arabs, the heirs of several of the earlier 'Abbasid khalifs were educated in Persian surroundings and had Persian blood as the result of intermarriages. Persian ideas and Persian interests rivalled, in many cases displaced, Arab ideas and interests, and so to a certain extent Islam became Persianized. For all that the khalifate and its subject must still be classed as Arab: they were commanded by a ruling dynasty which was Arab, they used the Arabic language, professed an Arab religion, and held in unbroken continuity from the desert men who had conquered the Near East.

(2) FOUNDATION OF BAGHDAD

At first the 'Abbasid khalifs lived at al-Anbar8 on the Euphrates. They had no desire to go to Syria where prevailing feeling was strongly pro-'Umayyad. But the second ruler of the 'Abbasid line, Abu I-'Abbas' brother al-Mansur determined to found a new capital. After considering various sites he at length decided to build at Baghdad, a town of considerable antiquity which had been known in Babylonian times as BAG-DA-Du, a name of unknown origin. By a play upon words later Persian writers gave this name a fanciful Persian derivation and made it mean "the Garden of God".

In making this choice he was guided by the advice of his minister, the Persian Khalid ibn Barmak, and having resolved on building he called in the services of two astrologers to lay out the foundations and select a propitious hour for setting the first stone in position. The astrologers chosen for that purpose were an-Nawbakht, who was a Persian, and Mashallah ibn Athari, a Persian Jew, 9 of Marw.

Guided by these astrologers al-Mansur laid the first stone of his new capital towards the end of the year 762, and three years later the building was sufficiently advanced for occupation to commence. Many of the inhabitants came from the neighbouring camp cities of Basra and Kufa, both hotbeds of sedition and always restless and fanatical. The presence of these new citizens helps to explain why from the outset Baghdad showed a turbulent and troublesome atmosphere. One suburb of the city known as Karkh, which had already existed as a Persian village, was given over to Persians.

Al-Mansur desired to make his capital a city whose fame should radiate through all Islam, and for this purpose he invited to it a number of distinguished scholars, Qur'an readers and preachers, grammarians and traditionalists from the two neighbouring camp cities which had already become recognized centres of Muslim scholarship, as yet restricted to Qur'anic and theological studies. Such men of learning were then beginning to form a respected middle class which later rose by court favour to high offices in the State, but was entirely distinct from the older aristocracy of the Arab tribal chieftains of noble pedigree who had dominated Islam under the 'Umayyads. The learned men of Kufa and Basra, many already famous, formed a kind of academic aristocracy which tended to act as a check on the arrogant pretensions of the hereditary nobility who had proved a source of danger in the court of Damascus and were still disaffected towards the 'Abbasid dynasty which they regarded as semi-Persian. Unfortunately al-Mansur suffered from the unprincely vice of avarice, and the rewards he offered were so moderate and were paid so grudgingly that he earned the nickname Abu d-Dawaniq "father of sixpences".

In 765 al-Mansur was taken seriously ill with some gastric disorder and was advised to send for the Nestorian physician jirjis ibn Bukhtyishu', head of the academy and hospital at Jundi-Shapur. This was the first contact of the court at Baghdad with the family of Bukhtyishu' which afterwards played an important part in the cultural education of the Arabs. Nothing is known of the Bukhtyishu' who was the father of this jirjis, but as the name occurs several, times in the course of the history of Baghdad it is convenient to classify him as Bukhtyishu' I.

Of all the East Persians who had helped the 'Abbasid revolution and afterwards came west to share the prosperity of the new dynasty, the most distinguished belonged to the wealthy and wellborn family of the Barmakids, originally of Balkh in Bactria, but afterwards settled at Marw. This family was descended from the Barmaks or hereditary abbots of the Buddhist monastery of Nawbahar in Balkh, but had conformed to the Mazdean religion some time probably not long before the Muslim conquest, and then embraced Islam. Khalid ibn Barmak, the head of the family, was minister of finance under as-Saffah, and was made governor of Mesopotamia by al-Nia'nsur.'His son Yahya, at one time governor of Armenia was entrusted by al-Mahdi with the education of his son; ho afterwards became khalif as Harun ar-Rashid, and he appointed Yahya wazir of the whole empire and entrusted him with unlimited power. In this office Yahya showed himself a wise and just administrator, and under his guidance the empire prospered. Of Yahya's three sons Fazl was governor of Khurasan, then of Egypt, and Ja'far succeeded Yahya as wazir. But the family, after being the first in wealth, power, and honour is Islam, fell from its high estate in 803 for reasons which were a mystery to contemporaries and never have been adequately explained. Yahya died in prison in 806, Ja'far in
909. Other sons seem to have been set at liberty after Yahya's death. At the accession of al-Amin in 8o8 all surviving members of the Barmakid family were set free and had property and honours restored to them.

The Barmakids were keenly interested in Greek science, which was then the subject of much attention at Marw, and brought with them this taste, finding a kindred spirit already existing in the Nestorian academy of Jundi-Shapur.

Jirjis ibn Bukhtyishu', who had come from Jundi-Shapur to attend al-Mansur, remained in Baghdad as court physician until advancing years caused him to ask to be released and he retired full of honours to Jundi-Shapur where he died in 769. In 785 al-Hadi, mindful of Jirjis' excellent services, invited his son Bukhtyishu' II, who had succeeded his father as head of the academy and hospital to go to Baghdad, but at court he had to face such determined opposition from Abu Quraysh the Queen's physician that for the sake of peace he was sent back to Jundi-Shapur. Under Harun ar-Rashid he was again summoned to court to treat the khalif for severe headaches, and later his son Jibra'il was brought to court and remained there until his death in 828-9. Whilst he was there the influence of the Barmakid wazir was making itself felt and efforts were being made to introduce to the Arabs the revived scientific learning derived from Greek sources, which was already spreading amongst the Syriac-speaking Christians. The Barmakid Yahya was an enthusiastic supporter of this revival of science with which he had been in touch in Marw, and was warmly supported by the Nestorian scholars of Jundi-Shapur.

Harun ar-Rashid became khalif in 786. He had been educated in Persia and under Persian influence at the hands of Yahya the Barmakid and throughout his reign showed strongly pro-Persian sympathies. He took great interest in science and literature, far beyond any of his predecessors, and the Hellenistic movement in Islam matured under his auspices. His reign was afterwards looked back upon as a golden age, but the khalifate had already begun to show signs of decay: in 800 he consented to the practical independence of the Aglabid governor of Qairawan in Libya, the beginning of a process of devolution which finally brought about the disintegration of the empire. Neither he nor any other of the 'Abbasid khalifs were able to extend their rule over Andalus, which had been a province under the 'Umayyads.

Influenced by his Barmakid minister Harun gave active support to the scholars who studied and translated Greek scientific works, sending out agents to purchase Greek manuscripts in the Roman Empire, a generous policy which brought a good deal of important material to Baghdad, and this was supplemented by similar generosity on the part of private persons who spent freely on manuscripts and translators. A good deal of the material thus obtained was medical and so appealed to the physicians of Jundi-Shapur, and this was rendered into Syriac as had been the case in former times, but before long Arabic versions made their appearance, at first translated from the Syriac, later directly from the Greek originals. The works of Aristotle were familiar in Syriac translations, and with them were commentaries and summaries, some composed in Syriac, others translated from the Greek. But at first the Aristotelian material was confined to the logical treatises. It was not until some time after the death of Harun ar-Rashid that a serious and direct examination of Aristotelian philosophy was undertaken by Arab scholars. Derived through Syriac versions and commentaries the teaching of Aristotle was strongly tinctured with neo-Platonism, and that type of thought continued to colour Arabic philosophy to quite later times.

There seems reason to suppose that some of the earliest direct translations from the Greek was concerned with astronomy and mathematics. At an early date the Sindhind, an Indian treatise on astronomy and connected mathematics, based on Alexandrian teaching, was translated into Arabic, perhaps by means of a Persian version. It is said that the translators into Arabic were Ibrahim al-Fazari and Ya'qub ibn Tariq. Of the former of these Mas'udi says, "I will also cite the astronomer Ibrahim al-Fazari, author of the celebrated poem on the stars, astrology, and the study of the skies" (Mas'udi, Muruj, viii, 290), and then goes on to name him as one of al-Mansur's personal friends. The celebrated poem on the stars is not extant. He is said also to have been the first Arab to make an astrolabe. The son of this Ibrahim was Muhammad (d. between 769 and 806), who is sometimes mentioned as having been the translator. The date of a translation which is ascribed sometimes to the father, sometimes to the son, must be regarded as uncertain. Yaqub ibn Tariq was a distinguished mathematician who is said to have been the author of a treatise on the sphere and another on the karaja or arc of
225, following the tradition of Archimedes who divided the circle into 96 degrees, and also to have drawn up astronomical tables. That the Sindhind was translated so early as al-Mansur is doubtful, but obviously the translation was well known to 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Musa alKhwarizmi, who made it the basis of his astronomical tables, but his work came some fifty years later, and the tables are now lost, but are cited and incorporated in later work by Maslama al-Majriti (circ. 1007). When tables are only known to us by being cited or incorporated in later work, we can never be sure how they have been touched up or improved, and how much remains of the original.

In order to understand and use the Sindhind it was found necessary to make translations of the Almajest (Þ ìåãßó“ç ó²í“áòéò) of Ptolemy and Euclid's Elements, and these seem to have been translated directly from the Greek and to have been the earliest translation thus made. It is stated that it was made from a Syriac version, and this is not disproved by the absence of any such version surviving: Syriac literature is not rich in mathematical works. In favour of an early renderom the Greek we have only the presumption that reference must have been made to the original to get an accurate rendering of the technical terms, a matter of the utmost importance in mathematical work. The Arabic versions were several times revised and corrected by comparison with the Greek text, so the earliest may have been made before Harun ar-Rashid, or in the early part of his reign. There is a tradition that the translations of Euclid and the Almajest were made at the suggestion of Ja'far the Barmakid, which would put them before 803, when the Barmakids fell into disgrace. If the observatory at Jundi-Shapur was in use before the time of an-Nahawandi (813-833), of which we cannot be certain, no doubt the necessary equipment in mathematics was available there and would be in Syriac. It is of course quite possible that the necessary mathematics were obtained from Indian works, not from Euclid or Ptolemy. The "Sons of Musa" had an observatory in Baghdad, but that would be after the time of Harun ar-Rashid.

Not much can be learned from the two astrologers who assisted al-Mansur in laying the foundations of Baghdad, though both of these are said to have produced mathematical, astronomical, or astrological works. One of these, an-Nawbakht (d. 776-7), is described as a convert from the Zoroastrian religion and a favourite of al-Mansur. He is said to have been the author of a work on judicial astrology and to have compiled astronomical tables, but of these works nothing survives. His son Abu Sahl al-Fadl an-Nawbakht (d. circ. 815) was Harun ar-Rashid's librarian and made translations from the Persian. The other astrologer, Mashallah, is said to have been a Jew of Marw whose name had originally been Misha, short for Manasseh (Fihrist, i, 273). Several of his works survive in Hebrew or Latin translations. Amongst these was a popular work on astronomy, not astrology.

It seems fairly certain that medical material that medical material came through a Syriac medium, direct translation from the Greek coming later. This may have been the case also with astronomical and mathematical material, but extant Syriac translations seem to be contemporaneous with the Arabic versions, not earlier, most indeed the work of Hunayn ibn Ishaq or his school. It may be that mathematics and astronomy came through Indian authorities, not translations from the Greek but based upon Greek teaching, and translation from Greek into Syriac and Arabic came later when efforts were made to check and correct the available material. Certainly the earliest Arab mathematicians, such as al-Khwarizmi, knew a great deal which does not appear in the Greek authors and much of which (but not all) can be traced to Indian workers. There are gaps in the chain of transmission which it is not easy to fill up.

CHAPTER XII TRANSLATION INTO ARABIC

(1) THE FIRST TRANSLATORS

BAGHDAD was founded in 762. Harun ar-Rashid became khalif in 786 and in his reign Baghdad became the centre of a movement which aimed at translating Greek scientific material into Arabic. In the twenty-four years intervening between the foundation of the city and the accession of Harun ar-Rashid influences must have been at work to prompt this undertaking. Of such influences two were obvious, one radiating from Marw far away in Khurasan in the east, the other from Jundi-Shapur near at hand. Marw in Khurasan was indeed distant, but it had a great deal to do with early Baghdad. The 'Abbasids had been set upon the throne by a rebellion which had its source in Khurasan and which drew its chief support from that province. The Marw family of the Barmakids supplied the all-powerful ministers who guided and to a. great extent controlled the 'Abbasid government. Many Persians, especially those of Khurasan, had flocked west to share in the triumph of the revolution and claim their share in its spoils. At the 'Abbasid court Persian influence very much thrust the Arab element into the background. The Persians were not modest about this: the Arabs had been. arrogant, now the Persians repaid them with greater arrogance, deriding the Arabs as semi-barbarous nomads of the desert, parvenus without a history behind them, devoid of culture. This anti-Arab demonstration, open and plainly expressed) went by the name of the Shu'ubiya, an organized, virulent, and outspoken expression of anti-Arab feeling.

A typical figure of the times was Abu Muhammad ibn al-Muqaffa', a Persian who entered the service of 'Isa ibn lu, uncle of the first two 'Abbasid khalifs, and became a convert to Islam, though many regarded his conversion as insincere. He translated from Pahlawi or Old Persian the book known as Kalilag wa-Dimnag, itself a translation of a Buddhist work brought from India by the Christian periodeutes Budh who had been sent to India to procure drugs, and with the drugs brought back this book and the game of chess. Ibn al-Muqaffa' produced a translation which is regarded as a model of classical Arabic, and as such is still studied in schools. He also made a translation of the Persian Khudai-nama, a biographical history of the Persian kings, calling his Arabic version Sjyar muluk al-'Ajam. This work no longer exists, but it formed the basis of Firdawsi's Shah-nama and many long extracts are given in Ibn Qutaiba's 'Uyun al-akhbar. In Arabic he composed a treatise "on obedience due to kings" (ad-durra al-yatima fi ta'at a'-mulk, printed Cairo, 1893 (?) and 1326, 1331 A. H.). He also wrote several short treatises on "Adab", etiquette, duties of civil servants, and good manners, a favourite subject in Old Persian literature. Living in Basra and f eeling secure in the protection of noble patrons he permitted himself many impertinences towards Sufyan ibn Mu'awiya al-Muhallibi, the city governor, jeering at him as "Ibn al-mughialina (son of the lascivious female), all of which Sufyan endured in silence. After the rebellion of 'Abdallah against his nephew al-Mansur the khalif agreed to pardon his uncle and Ibn al-Muqaffa' was directed to draw up a formal letter of pardon for the khalif to sign. In this letter he inserted "if at any time the Commander of the Faithful act perfidiously towards his uncle 'Abdallah ibn 'Ali, his wives shall be divorced from him, his horses confiscated to the service of God, his slaves set free, and Muslims absolved from allegiance to him". Al-Mansur read this draft and asked who had composed it. On hearing that it was drawn up by Ibn al-Muqaffa' he said nothing, but sent a letter to Sufyan telling him that he might deal with the secretary as he saw fit. Various accounts are given of the way in which the governor gratified his resentment towards Ibn al-Muqaffa' by putting him to death, all of them extremely cruel. This took place in 757-8 (Ibn Khallikan, i, 432-3).

The cradle of the Shu'ubiya was Khurasan and its capital Marw. Harun ar-Rashid himself was educated at Marw and had strongly pro-Persian leanings. The astronomical records kept under the Sasanid kings of Persia were continued under the Arabs and were continued in Persian, not in Arabic, until much later. From Marw came some of the earliest translators of astronomical works, and it would seem that Khurasan was the channel through which astronomical and mathematical material came to Baghdad, for which very probably the Barmakid ministers, natives of Marw, were the agents. There was, it is true, an observatory at Jundi-Shapur, but we know little of its activity before the time of Ahmad an-Nahawandi (813-833), who made observations there some years after Harun's death. Some of the astronomical and mathematical material seems to have been obtained from India, derived from a Greek source in the first place, but probably it was transmitted to the Arabs through a Persian medium, though the actual Persian works whereby it was transmitted are no longer extant.

Jundi-Shapur was near Baghdad and under the 'Abbasid khalifs distinguished physicians were summoned thence to court. Successful in their professional work they remained in Baghdad as court physicians and became men of wealth and influence. Their success inspired other physicians to follow them and they, with scholars from Marw, formed a group under court patronage which became something very like an academy, a society of scholars rather than a teaching body. The men of jzindi-Shapur were accustomed to study Greek science in Syriac translations: gradually these Syriac versions were supplemented by Arabic ones, and finally the Arabic versions replaced them.

There is a legend that the Sindhind, the Hindu revised form of Brahmagupta's Siddhanta, was translated into Arabic as early as the reign of al-Mansur. It was an early translation, though probably not so early as that. But it proved useless as the Arabs could not understand it. It is related that Ja'far the Barmakid perceived the reason of this to be that the Arabs lacked the preliminary knowledge of geometry and astronomy necessary to follow it, and at his advice Harun ar-Rashid ordered a translation to be made of Euclid's Elements and Claudius Ptolemy's megale (synaxis). To this title the Arabs added the article al- and changed the megale into megiste, deliberately, it would appear, for Ya'qubi writing in 891 explained that "the meaning of al-majisti is 'the greatest book'" (Ya'qubim, ed. Houtsma, Leiden, 1883). Thus the work appears in Arabic as Kitab al-Majisti, which in medieval Latin became magasiti, presumably an attempted vocalizing of the unpainted mjsty. It does not appear that the translations of Euclid and Ptolemy were made until after the reign of Harun ar-Rashid, so the story that they were suggested by Ja'far ibn Barmak is dubious.

The translator of the al-Majisti is said to have been al-Haiiaj ibn Tusuf ibn Matar al-Hasib, who finished it about 827, which was well after the fall of the Barmakids and after the death of Harun ar-Rashid. The same translator is said to have made an Arabic version of Euclid's Elements, not including Book X which was later (about 910) translated with Pappus' commentary by Sa'id ad-Dimishqi. The translation of Euclid by al-Hajjaj with the commentary of an-Naziri (d. circ. 923), who also wrote a commentary on the al-Majisti, was published by T. O. Besthorn and J. L. Heiberg, Euclidis elementa ex inter, pretatione al Hadschdschadschii cum commentary an Nazirii arab. et lat., ed. notisque... Copenhagen, 1893. The earliest commentary on Euclid seems to have been that of al-'Abbas al-jawhari (d. circ. 833). Another tradition represents the translation of the al-Majisti was made by Sahl ibn Rabban at-Tabari, a native of Marw and a Jew as his name ibn Rabban "the rabbi's son" denotes. Marw, one of the centres of Greek scholarship, had many Jewish neighbours who formed a colony of their own as was the Jewish custom, for they preferred to live in communities where the Jewish law could be observed. On the road betwen Marw and Balkh lay the city of Maymana which was at one time called al. yahudiya "the Jewish (city)", but that name was changed to Maymana "the auspicious" at the request of its inhabitants who disliked the association with Jewry. This Sahl is described as having gone to Baghdad in the days of Harun ar-Rashid and having made the translation for him. He was a distinguished scholar. and teacher of Marw who was known there as Barbun "the surpassing". Some account of him is given by his son 'Ali ibn Sahl ibn Rabban at-Tabari (d. 850) in his great medical work Firdaws al-Hikhma "the Paradise of Wisdom" (ed. I. Siddiqi, Berlin, 1928). Yet another tradition represents the translation of d-Majisti as made by Sahl and revised by al-Hajjaj. This early version of the work was subsequently revised by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (below), later by Thabit ibn Qurra (below), then by Muhammad ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani (d. 929). Al-Hajjaj's translation of Euclid was revised by Qusta ibn Luqa about 912-13.

The earliest information which the Arabs obtained about Aristotle from Syriac sources was confined to his logical works which had been translated and retranslated into Syriac, and on which several commentaries were accessible. The corpus of Aristotelian logic included the Categories, the Hermeneutics, the Prior Analytics, the Posterior Analytics, the Topics, the Sophistica, the Rhetoric, and the Politics, these last two works classed with the logical treatises by the Arabs. To these was added by Tuhanna
(or Yahya) ibn Batriq about 815 another work, unfortunately a spurious one, the Sirr al-asrar or "secret of secrets", which was accepted as Aristotelian. It is a work of miscellaneous contents, including physiognomy and dietetics.

Not long afterwards, about 835, a Christian of Emessa named 'Abd al-Masih ibn 'Aballah Wa'ima al-Hims-i translated another apocryphal work, the so-called "Theology of Aristotle", really an abridged paraphrase of Plotinus, Enneads, iv-vi (cf. Fr. Dieterici, Die sogennante Theologie des Aristoteles, Leipzig, 1882).

About the same time lived Abu rahya al-Batriq (d. between 798 and 806), who made an Arabic translation of an astrological work, the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy. A commentary on this was written by 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhan (d. circ. 8I5), and a paraphrase by Muhammad, ibn Jabir ibn Sinan al-Battani (d. 929).

Jibra'il I, the son of the otherwise unknown Bukhtyishu' I of Jundi-Shapur had attended al-Mansur, then retired to his own city and there finished his life. His. son Bukhtyishu' II for a time acted as court physician to al-Hadi, but had to go back to Jundi-Shapur because of the opposition raised by the Queen's physician. He returned to the court of Baghdad under Harun ar-Rashid and attended both the khalif and his minister Ja'far the Barmakid. Before his death in 801 this Bukhtyishu' recommended his son Jibra'il II to the khalif, and he in due course became court physician. There is no evidence that the first two members of this family did anything to promote Greek science amongst the Arabs, but the second Jibra'il did, and as he acted in conjunction with Ja'far ibn Barmak it is obvious that he held an influential position in Baghdad even before his appointment as court physician. Bukhtyishu' died in 801 and then Jibra'il became the khalif's physician, after Harun's death in 808 continuing to serve his son al-Amin. But this led to his imprisonment when al-Ma'mun became master of Baghdad and all those who had been supporters of his brother al-Amin fell into disgrace. He was set free in
817 to attend the wazir Hasan ibn Sahl and lived without other disturbance until 829. He, no less than Ja'far ibn Barmak, was a patron and encourager of the work of translation from the Greek, a great admirer of Greek medical science, but was not himself responsible for any translation. He was the author of a Kunnash or medical compendium in Syriac in which he drew freely from Galen Hippocrates and Paul of Aegina; this manual was long in use amongst Syriac speaking practitioners and did a good deal to familiarize them with Greek medical teaching. The work is now lost, but some knowledge of it can be obtained from the tenth century Syriac lexicon of Bar Bahoul, who uses it to illustrate technical medical terms (Bar Bahoul, edited by R. Duval, Paris 1888-1898). It was largely at his suggestion that Harun ar-Rashid sent into the Roman Empire to obtain manuscripts and commissioned translations from the Greek. He and other contemporary patrons not only provided for Arabic translations but also encouraged the preparation of improved Syriac versions, for it is worth noting that a new and better series of translations into Syriac was being made at the same time that translation into Arabic was commenced. Translation into Syriac went on as long as the Jundi-Shapur academy was in existence.

The general conclusion is that the work of translation of scientific material began under Harun ar-Rashid with the encouragement of the wazir Ja'far ibn Barmak, and that this at first was especially concerned with mathematical and astronomical works, several of them translated by scholars from Ja'far's own city of Marw. The translation of medical works perhaps began a little later, and was associated with Jibra'il II. But there seem to have been some other translators not connected with the semi-official group gathered at court. Medical works came through Syriac versions in the first place and -so did at least some of the astronomical and mathematical material, but in this latter direct reference to the Greek originals seems to have taken place earlier. This is as might be expected, for it was in mathematics that absolute accuracy in terminology was most important, Arabic lacked the technical terms used by Greek scientists. Sometimes the Greek terms were simply transliterated, but very often those terms show that they have passed through an Aramaic (Syriac) medium on their way, and this is more obvious in medical works than in mathematical and astronomical. As has been noted, the desire of more accurate scientific knowledge led to the preparation of more careful translations or the revision of existing versions, but it also resulted in the compilation of commentaries as well as original treatises based on the Greek authorities with citations illustrated and explained by original work. The encouragement of science became fashionable under Harun and many of the leading courtiers became patrons and spent freely on their scientific prot6g6s. Not all of these may have been inspired by a pure love of science. When it became a fashion at court it is likely enough that many ambitious of advertising themselves found this a means of doing so. Outside court circles the scientific movement made small appeal. The Arabs generally took little interest in it: their learned men still spent their time in the study of Qur'an, jurisprudence, and grammar. So far, until the end of the reign of Harun ar-Rashid, no real work was done in the Aristotelian philosophy, Aristotle was treated only as an authority on logic.

Harun ar-Rashid died in 808, leaving the empire to his two sons al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, the former taking the western half with his capital at Baghdad, the other the eastern half with Marw as his capital. This naturally did not work and civil war between the two brothers followed inevitably. Al-Ma'mun's army, led by abler generals, obtained the upper hand, until in 812 under the leadership of Tahir it besieged Baghdad. This siege involved terrible sufferings and al-Amin was compelled to lay heavy requisitions on the citizens. At this the merchants entered into correspondence with Tahir. Discovering that he was betrayed al-Amin tried to escape and was on his way to make his submission to Tahir when he was found and murdered by some Persian free lances. These tragic events form the subject of an epic poem by al-Khuzaimi, a type of poem rare in Arabic.

At the death of al-Amin the whole empire fell into the hands of al-Ma'mun, but he preferred to remain at Marw and sent Hasan ibn Sahl to Baghdad as his deputy. Hasan's rule lasted six years, a period of tyranny and disorder gradually merging into anarchy, of which al-Ma'mun was kept in complete ignorance. At last the city revolted and elected Mansur ibn Mahdi governor until, such time as al-Ma'mun could take over control in person. There was another reason why Baghdad was dissatisfied in addition to the tyrannical misrule of Hasan. Al-Ma'mun had invited the Shi'ite claimant to the throne, 'Ali ar-Rida, to Marw, received him with exceptional honour, and promised to make him his heir. This caused great offence at Baghdad which had no desire to be under Shi'ite rule.

At length the khalif was made aware of the critical state of affairs and warned that unless he went to Baghdad and took matters in hand for himself the khalifate would pass out of his hands. Thus warned he set out for Baghdad in 819, first disposing of 'Ali ar-Rida by poison. With him he took an extensive and extravagant court, as well as an army and also a select company of scientists, for he himself was deeply interested in scientific studies. At Baghdad he was welcomed with great rejoicings. He was a man of handsome presence, a thing which counts for much in oriental princes, generous, even lavish to extravagance in his expenditure and generally regarded as prudent, determined, of sound judgment, and clemency. According to the historians he was endowed with every grace and favour of an ideal prince. Educated in Marw in a neo-Hellenistic atmosphere, he applied philosophical principles to Muslim doctrines: no doubt others did the same, some of them men of exemplary piety, but they were careful to preserve external decorum by treating matters of religion th respect. Not so al-Ma'mun. He had a taste for discussing religious problems and this he did with considerable freedom, so that one of his courtiers once addressed him in jest as "Prince of Unbelievers", a jest which was allowed to pass but its maker was never forgiven. Pro-Persian and antiArab, son of a Persian mother and married to a Persian wife, he had little in common with the narrow fanaticism of the typical Baghdadite. Unfortunately he was so far convinced of the rightness of the Mu'tazilite views that he determined to force them upon his subjects, selecting as a test point the question whether the Qur'an was, or was not, created. In 827 he published a decree penalizing any who did not agree that it was created and so not co-etemal with God. This decree was deeply resented as an innovation, for Islam has never recognized the khalif as a religious teacher. The doctrines of religion are defined, not by the State, but by those who are learned in theology. As the penal was not successful, al-Ma'mun reissued it in stricter terms with many peevish complaints about the non-observance of his commands, and established a mihna or inquisition before which any person could be brought and examined as to his opinions, suffering punishment if they differed from the officially authorized rationalism. Under this law there were some martyrs and many suffered imprisonment and other punishments, amongst them Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a revered and greatly honoured traditionalist and jurist. All those who suffered were regarded as saints.

Ten years after his arrival in Baghdad al-Ma'mun attempted to repeat the experiment of the Greek geometer Eratosthenes and measure the earth's arc. To do this he assembled a number of scientists in the plain of Sinjar in Mesopotamia, West of Mosul. The leading scientists thus gathered were Abu t-Taiyab Sanad ibn 'Ali (d. after 860), who afterwards directed the erection of the observatory in Baghdad, Yahya ibn Abi Mansur al-Mai'muni, a freedman of al-Ma'mun's family, al-'Abbas ibn Sa'id al-jawhari (d. after 833), and 'Ali ibn 'Isa al-Asturlabi. He divided these scientists into two parties which moved apart until they saw a change of one degree in the elevation of the pole. The distance travelled was then measured, and it was found that one party had travelled 57 miles, the other 58½, miles, each mile reckoned as 4,000 "black cubits", a measure of length specially devised for this experiment. In 832 the experiment was repeated at Qasian, near Damascus.

When Jibra'il left Jundi-Shapur for Baghdad he was succeeded as head of the academy and hospital there by Abu Zakariah Yahya ibn Masawaih (d. 857), a Nestorian who was the son of a druggist and had received his training as a pupil of 'Isa b. Nun, who became Nestorian patriarch in 823. At that time medicine was in so great repute that it was regarded as the foremost form of scientific education and consequently it is common to find that Nestorian and Monophysite clergy in Asia often had a medical training rather than one in litterae humaniores. But Ibn Masawaih left Jundi-Shapur and went to Baghdad at Jibra'il's suggestion, and was introduced at court as a skilful physician and one learned in Greek medicine. He was the author of a treatise on ophthalmology entitled Daghal al-'ayn "the disease of the eye", and also a collection of medical aphorisms An-nawadir at-tibiyya, which he dedicated to his pupil Hunayn ibn Ishaq. This work attained great popularity and was translated into Latin, but wrongly ascribed to St. John Damascene. In later times Ibn Masawaih's treatise on the eye was so greatly esteemed that it was selected as one of the set books for the examination established by the Khalif al-Qahir (932-4) for the licence to practise medicine, an examination at first under the direction of Sinan ibn Thabit. There is also an "Instruction for the examination of oculists" which is ascribed to him, but it is simply a cram book based on the Daghal al-'ayn probably a later compilation made for the use of examination candidates. The Daghal al-'ayn "is the earliest treatise on ophthalmology, the Greek, Syriac, and other special textbooks being lost. It is written in bad Arabic, with many Greek, Syriac, and Persian technical terms, a rather confusing compilation without system, and doubtless intermixed with later interpolations. One complete MS. is extant in Taimur Pasha's library (Cairo), another in Leningrad" (M. Meyerhof, The Book of the Ten Treatises, Cairo, 1928, ix-x). Analysis and extracts of this work in German by M. Meyerhof and C. Preufer, Die Augenheilkunde des Juhanna ibn Masawaih, in Der Islam, vi, 19I5, pp. 217-256.

(2) HUNAYN IBN ISHAQ

The most celebrated of all translators of Greek scientific works into Arabic was Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-'Abadi (d. 873 or 877) The outline of his life and work are well known from his autobiography written in the form of letters to 'Ali ibn Yahya in 875. (Text from two manuscripts in the Aya Sofia Mosque at Stambul, ed. with translation by G. Bergestrasser, Leipzig, 1925.) He was a native of Hira, the son of a Christian (Nestorian) druggist. In later life he learned Arabic, so presumably he did not belong to the ruling class of Hira which was Arabic-speaking, and this is endorsed by his name 'Abadi, which shows that he belonged to the subject people of Hira. As a young man he attended the lectures of Ibn Masawaih (above) at Jundi-Shapur, and so far earned. the approval of his teacher that he was made his dispenser. But later he annoyed Ibn Masawaih by asking too many questions in class, and at least his teacher lost patience and said: "What have the people of Hira to do with medicine? -- go and change money in the streets," and drove him out weeping (Ibn al-Qifti, 174). Expelled from the academy Hunayn went away to "the land of the Greeks" and there obtained a sound knowledge of the Greek language and familiarity with textual criticism such as had been developed in Alexandria. In due course he returned and settled for a time at Basra where he studied Arabic under Yhalid ibn Ahmad then, some time before 826, proceeded to Baghdad where he obtained the patronage of Jibra'il and for him prepared translations of some of Galen's works. Harun ar-Rashid died in 808 and al-Ma'mun succeeded in 813, after the brief and stormy reign of al-Amin, so that Hunayn's activities belong to a period later than Harun ar-Rashid. The excellence of his translations, far surpassing any previous work of the sort, greatly impressed Jibra'il who then introduced him to the three "Sons of Musa", wealthy patrons of learning. Their father, Musa ibn Shakir, after a life spent in the lucrative profession of a brigand in Khurasan, had reformed and been pardoned, then settled down to spend his declining years in cultured leisure. He entrusted his sons to the Khalif al-Ma'mun, who appointed Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, and later Yahya ibn Abi Mansur to be their teachers, and from those preceptors they received a training in mathematics. They were not so much interested in medicine, but patronized Hunayn chiefly because of his excellence as a translator. Of these "Sons of Musa" the eldest Muhammad rose to high office under the Khalif al Motadid (892-932), and distinguished himself in astronomy and geometry, a second son Ahmad excelled in mechanics, and the third son Hasan attained celebrity in geometry. They had a house in Baghdad near the Bab at-Taq, the gate at the eastern end of the main bridge over the Tigris, opening into the great market street of East Baghdad, and there they built an observatory where they made observations during the years 850-870. To them we owe a treatise on plane and spherical geometry, a collection of geometrical problems and a manual of geometry which was translated into Latin by Gerhard of Cremona (d. 1187) as "Liber Trium Fratrum de geometria" (ed. M. Curtze in Nova Acta d. Kais. Leop. Carol. Deustscen Akad. Naturforscher, xlix, 109-167), which long held its own as an introduction to geometry. They were generous patrons of scientific research and according to Ibn Abi Usaibi'a spent at one time an average Of 500 dinars (say £200) a month on their scientific proteges.

The "Sons of Musa" introduced Hunayn to the Khalif al-Ma'mun some time before Jibra'il's death in 828-9, and apparently at Jibra'il's suggestion the khalif founded an academy which he called the "House of Wisdom" (Dar al-hikhma) as an institution where the preparation of translations from Greek scientists would be made and circulated amongst the Arabs, placing Hunayn in charge. From that time forwards the work of translation went on steadily, and before long Arab students found themselves equipped with the greater part of the works of Galen, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, Euclid, Aristotle, and various other Greek authorities. The work of translation was twofold, versions were made in Arabic and also in Syriac, these latter to replace the defective translations already in use. Ibn Masawaih, the teacher who had expelled Hunayn from Jundi-Shapur, was reconciled to him and became his warm supporter. Hunayn had many other friends and clients, mostly physicians of Jundi-Shapur and those who had removed to Baghdad and used the Arabic language, like Salmawaih ibn Bunan an alumnus of Jundi-Shapur who became court physician to al-Mu'tasim in 832. All these were better translations than had been known in the past and were made from good Greek manuscripts, many of them procured by agents of the khalif who were sent into the Roman Empire and empowered to spend considerable sums on the purchase of the best codices.

Altogether Hunayn translated into Syriac twenty books of Galen, two for Bukhtyishu' Jibra'il's son, two for Salmawaih ibn Bunan, one for Jibra'il, and one for Ibn Masawaih, and also revised the sixteen translations made by Sergius of Rashayn. He translated fourteen treatises into Arabic, three for Muhammad, one for Ahmad, sons of Musa. He and his assistants produced versions both in Syriac and Arabic, though no doubt some of his staff excelled in one language rather than the other. Most of the translators of the next generation received their training from Hunayn or his pupils, so that he stands out as the leading translator of the better type, though some of his versions were afterwards revised by later writers.

The complete curriculum of the medical school of Alexandria was thus made available for Arab students. This included a select series of the treatises of Galen which was

1. De sectis.

2. Ars medica.

3. De pulsibus ad tirones.

4. Ad Glauconem de medendi methodo.

5. De ossibus ad tirones..

6. De musculorum dissections.

7. De nervorum dissections.

8. De venarum arteriumque dissections.

9. De elementis secundum Hippocratem.

10. De temperamentis.

11. De facultatibus naturalibus.

12. De causis et symptomatibus.

13. De locis affectis.

14. De pulsibus (four treatises).

15. De typis (febrium).

1 6. De crisibus.

17. De diebus decretoriis.

18. Methodus medendi.

The range and method of Hunayn's work is known to us from his autobiography, the Risalat Huna n ibn Ishaq, letters written to 'Ali ibn Yahya in 865, of which the text with translation has been published from two manuscripts in the Aya Sophia Mosque at Stamboul, by G. Bergestrasser, Leipzig, 1925, a work which has been analysed by Dr. Meyerhof in Isis, viii (1926), 685-724).

Al-Ma'mun's reign came to an end in 833 and he was succeeded by his son al-Mu'tasim (833-842), who found it difficult to control the populace of Baghdad and formed a guard of Turkish slave-soldiers. But this body-guard, holding a privileged position, soon became insubordinate and many complaints were made about their conduct. At last al-Mu'tasim in 836 removed himself and his court to Samarra, and there the khalifs reigned until 892. These disorders affected scholarship adversely and the "House of Wisdom" fell into decay which was not checked during the brief reign of Wathiq (842-7).

As Wathiq's son was too young to occupy the throne his brother Mutawakkil (847-861) was invested with the khalifate. His accession made a great change. The previous khalifs had been tolerant in religion, al-Ma'mun was generally regarded as a free-thinker, But Mutawakkil was of the strictest orthodoxy and fanatical in his orthodoxy, possibly afraid of the disaffected attitude of the Syrian Christians. He was of sadistic temperament, mischievous and capriciously cruel. Though not himself a scholar like al-Ma'mun, he was a patron of science and scholarship and reopened the Dar al-Hikhma, granting it fresh endowments. The best work of translation was done during his reign, as the training of the staff and experience were bearing fruit.

Mutawakkil's personal relations with Hunayn were chequered. It is related that the khalif told him to prepare poison for his enemies and, on Hunayn's refusal to do so, cast him into prison. Not long afterwards he was released and Mutawakkil explained that he had only desired to test his loyalty to the traditional standards of medical practice. Then a Nestorian physician named Isra'il ibn Zakariya at-Taifuri, or else his friend Bukhtyishu', denounced him as a heretic, that is a heretic from the Nestorian standard, for Hunayn had never conformed to Islam. The Nestorian Church, like other tolerated religious communities, was selfgoverning in its private affairs and could punish heretics and other offenders, though the khalif quite gratuitously comes into the story. It is said that Mutawakkil ordered Hunayn to spit on a picture of the Holy Theotokos and on his refusal handed him over to the Nestorian Catholicos Theodosius who imprisoned and scourged him. The implication seems to be that the khalif invited him to repudiate Christianity, and when he refused to do so handed him over to the Nestorian Catholicos for punishment. Just possibly this vague and confused story contains an echo of the Iconoclastic controversy which at that time was disturbing the Eastern Church. Mutawakkil further confiscated Hunayn's property, including his library, a loss which he felt sorely. After four months he was set free because of a remarkable cure following his treatment of a court dignitary, and his goods and library were restored. The whole matter sounds very much like an intrigue amongst the court physicians, as on his release the other court physicians had to pay him 10,000 dirhams compensation.

After his release he lived another twenty years, which he employed in making translations and correcting those made by others. In 861 Mutawakkil was murdered by his Turkish guards at his son's instigation. Hunayii enjoyed the favour of that son Montasir (861-2), and of his successors Mosta'in (862-6), Mo'tazz (866-9), Muhtadi (869-870), and Mu'tamid (870-892), and was engaged in making a translation of Galen's De constitutions artis medicae at the time of his death, which took place in 873 according to the Fihrist, or in 877 according to Ibn Abi Usaibi'a, who is often inaccurate in his chronology. According to I. A. U., Hunayn was the author of more than a hundred original works, but only a few of these are extant. Hunayn, the greatest of the translators, must be reckoned to the credit of Jundi-Shapur, although his fuller and more accurate knowledge was gained by his studies in the "land of the Greeks", for those travels and studies were prompted and directed by what he had learned at Jundi-Shapur under Ibn Masawaih.

Although Mutawakkil was bigoted, fanatical, and sadistic, he was a generous patron of scientific research and is generally reckoned as having re-endowed the "House of Wisdom", which probably means that it was reopened after the disturbed period which followed al-Ma'mun's death and its endowmen ts restored to it. The best work of this academy was done under Mutawakkil, for by that time experience told and Hunayn was surrounded by well-trained pupils.

Amongst those who worked with Hunayn must be noted his son Ishaq, who died in November, 910 or 911, and his nephew Hubaysh ibn al-Hasan, who was at work in the days of Mutawakkil. He translated Greek texts of Hippocrates and the botanical work of Dioscorides which became the basis of the Arab pharmacoporia (infra). It is noteworthy that most of the names of planys in Arabic show that they have passed through an Aramaic (Syriac) medium (cf. Loew, Aramaische Pflanzennamen, 1881).

Another noteworthy pupil was 'Isa ibn Yahya ibn Ibrahim who was a translator of Greek medical works into Arabic. Almost all the leading scientists of the succeeding generation were pupils of Hunayn.

Although Hubaysh is given as the translator of Dioscorides, the current Arabic version is more commonly ascribed to Hunayn's pupil Staphanos ibn Basilos, who translated the work into Syriac, and this Syriac version was then translated into Arabic by Hunayn himself (or Hubaysh) for Muhammad, one of the "Sons of Musa". But another independent version of Dioscorides was afterwards made in Spain (cf. below).

(3) OTHER TRANSLATORS

About 908 the Christian priest lusuf al-Khuri al-Qass translated Archimedes' (lost) work on triangles from a Syriac version, and this was afterwards revised by Thabit ibn Qurra. He also made an Arabic translation of Galen's De simplicibus temperamentis et facultatibus, which was afterwards revised by Hunayn ibn Ishaq.

About the same time lived Qusta ibn Luqa al-Ba'lbakki (3. 912-13), a Syrian Christian who translated Hypsicles, afterwards revised by al-Kindi, Theodosius' Sphaerica, which was afterwards revised by Thabit ibn Qurra, Heron's Mechanics, Autolycus, Theophrastus' Meteora, Galen's catalogue of his books, John Philoponus on the Physics of Aristotle and several other works, and also revised the existing translation of Euclid.

Abu Bishr Matta ibn runus al-Qanna'i (d. 940) was responsible for a translation of the Poetica of Aristotle.

Medical and logical works were translated also by the Monophysite Abu Zakariya Yahya ibn 'Adi al-Mantiqi "the logician" (d. 974), amongst them the Prolegomena of Ammonius, an introduction to Porphyry's Isagoge.

To these may be added the late translator Al-Hunayn ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Hasan ibn Khurshid at-Tabari an-Natili (d. 990) also the Monophysite Abu 'Ali 'Isa ibn Ishaq ibn Zer'a
(d. 16th April, 1008), who prepared versions of medical and philosophical works. With these the series of translators in Asia comes to an end. After this the work changes to cornmentary and exposition, occasionaly revising earlier transla tions.

A final phase of translation appears in Andalus the Muslim occupied Spain. There the fugitive 'Umayyad prince 'Abdarrahman had established an independent kingdom in
755, The eighth prince of that Andalusian state 'Abdarrahman III in 929 adopted the title Khalif and so from 929 to 978 there were khalifs of Cordova, usually with strained relations with the 'Abbasids in the east, but friendly with the Emperor of Byzantium who was their enemy. In 949 the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII sent an embassy to Cordova and amongst the presents he sent to 'Abdarrahman was a copy of Dioscorides in Greek with painted pictures of the many plants described in the text. This book attracted much attention, but no one in Cordova could read Greek, so the Khalif in thanking the Emperor begged him to send someone who could translate and explain the work. In 95I the Emperor sent a monk named Nicolas, who was able to speak Arabic, and he not only made translations of Dioscorides and other Greek works, but began teaching the Greek language, his lectures arousing great enthusiasm and being attended by many court officials, including Hasdai ibn Shaprut, the Jewish wazir. Translations of Dioscorides already existed, that of Hunayn ibn Ishaq from the Syriac version of his pupil Stephenos ibn Basilos, and the version made by an-NataIi for the Prince Abu 'Ali as-Sanjuri. But Nicolas made an improved translation in which pains were taken to identify the plants described, thus laying the foundation of a serious study of botany which very quickly bore fruit in the work of Abu Dawud Sulaiman ibn Juljul (circ. 1000), physician to 'Abdarrahman's successor Hisham II, who wrote a supplement to Dioscorides describing a number of plants found in Spain, a land peculiarly rich and varied in its flora, but not known to the Greek author. Although there was a very productive cultural harvest in Andalus and the reign of 'Abdarrahman III alusian culture, there does not was the golden age of Andalusan culture, there does not appear to have been any further output the Greek there. The Andalusian version of Dioscorides as made by Nicolas exists in a Bodleian manuscript. Apparently the older version prepared by Hunayn ibn Ishaq or an-Natali was quite unknown in Spain.

(4) THABIT IBN QURRA

Thabit ibn Qurra is pronminent amongst those who revised and corrected Arabic translations of mathematical and astronomical works, and introduces a new source of proGreek interest. He was a native of the town of Harran, the ancient Charrae, where men adhered steadfastly to their ancient paganism, although the deities worshipped there bore names borrowed from the G7reek pantheon. It was in the midst of Syriac Christian culture, between Edessa and Rashayn, situated on the Belias, a minor tributary of the Upper Euphrates. It was famous for the purity of the Aramaic spoken there, and this was sometimes attributed to its comparative freedom from Jewish or Christian influences, though in fact there was a Christian bishop who claimed Harran as his see and presumably there was a Christian congregation there. It seems to have been in touch with the renaissance of Greek learning which affected both the Nestorian and Monophysite churches and its thought was strongly tinctured with neo-Platonism.

Our knowledge of the ancient religion of Harran is chiefly gleaned from the observations of ad-Dimishqi, who died in A. D. 1327, long after the city had passed into obscurity and who could only have had traditional information about its religion. His information is summarized in Chwolson's Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, ii, 280-411. From that we learn that the Harranians had five great temples dedicated respectively to the First Cause, the First Reason, the Ruler of the World, Form, and Soul. There were seven other temples dedicated to the seven planets. It was an anomaly for a pagan city to enjoy religious freedom under Muslim rule and noninterference was not due to the city being obscure as it was the capital of the province of Diyar Mudar and under the last 'Umayyad khalif Marwan II it was the residence of the court and government administration. The Fihrist relates a story that al-Ma'mun towards the end of his reign passed by Harran on a military expedition, and he and his officers were astonished at the strange and uncouth appearance of the townsmen. He asked who they -,vere, and was shocked to learn that they were pagans. This implies that Harran was unknown to Muslims generally and a remote isolated district, which is not true. Al-Ma'mun ordered the people to adopt one of the recognized religions, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or Mazdeanism, before he came back that way. He never did come back, but the people were alarmed at his threats and many of them conformed to Islam or Christianity: Mazdeanism seems to have ceased to make converts by then; but others adhered to their paganism and sought a way to escape the Khalif's anger. A certain lawyer offered to show them a possible way of doing so for a consideration, and when they had paid him his fee he advised them to claim to be Sabaeans (Sabi'a), as those are mentioned in the Qur'an as one of the "peoples of the Book" (Qur., 2, 59; 22) 17; 5, 73), and no one knew who the Sabaeans were. The story is obviously apocryphal: the Harranites could not have been so little known in the days of al-Ma'mun as his father Harun ar-Rashid had already put pressure on them as heretics and their city had been the seat of government under Marwan II. The story is an attempt to explain how the Harranites came to be called Sabacans, a name which we now recognize as not belonging to them. The real Sabaeans were a people of South Arabia, with whom Harran had no concern. But the Mandaeans of the Lower Euphrates, the Haemerobaptists of the Christian fathers and the rabbinical writers who earned the title of "baptists" from their frequent and punctilious ablutions, were in Aramaic called Saba'in from the root SB' "ummerse". Those Mandaeans were Gnostics who inclined to astrological beliefs, possibly actual star-worshippers. The people of Harran were not Gnostics, but they had temples dedicated to the planets, which gave some colour to the confusion between them and the Mandaeans. Harranite neo-Platonism might possibly be conf used with Gnostic beliefs. It is characteristic that the Harranites claimed that their religion had come to them from Hermes. It is an interesting instance, though not a unique one, of the way in which the Muslim law was sometimes evaded.

Thabit ibn Qurra (d. 901) "was originally a money-changer in the market of Harran, and when he turned to philosophy he made wonderful progress and became expert in three Syriac, and Arabic.... In Arabic he languages, Greek composed about 150 works on logic, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, and in Syriac he wrote another fifteen books" (Bar Hebraeus, Chron., x, 176). About 872 he was excommunicated by the High Priest of Harran, unfortunately we know nothing about the ecclesiastical discipline of Harran and sent to Kafartutha, near Dara, but he remained staunch to his religion. "Our fathers," he said, "by the help of God stood firm and spoke boldly, so this favoured town never was polluted by the error of Nazareth (Christianity), and we are their heirs and transmitters of paganism in these days: fortunate is he who bears his burden in hope strengthened by paganism (ibid.). He maintained that it was the pagans who first cultivated the land, founded cities, made ports, and discovered science
(ibid.)." After wanderings in various lands he met Muhammad, one of the "Sons of Musa", who recognized his scholarship and took him to Baghdad where he did most of his work. He made translations of Apollonius, Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, and Theodosius, or revised existing translations. He also composed several works on astronomy and mathematics. It has been supposed that he was responsible for the extremely mechanical form in which Ptolemy's cosmography was presented to the Arabs, but that hardly seems justified. In mathematics he introduced the theory of "amicable numbers", a Chinese idea. Such numbers are those in which one is the sum of the factors in the other. Thus if P=3(2n)-1, q=3(2n-1)-1, and r=9(22n-1)-1, assuming that n is a whole number, then a=2npq, and b=2nr are amicable numbers. Suppose n=2, then P=3(2n)-1=11: q = 3(2n-1)-1=5: r=9(22n-1) û 1=71: so the amicable numbers are a=320, b=284. Nothing very much results from this investigation, but it was continued by Maslama za-Majriti and a few other Arab mathematicians.

Thabit had a son Abu Sa'id who became physician to the Khalif al-Oahir. He also was a pagan, but the khalif tried to convert him to Islam and fell into the habit of using the most bloodthirsty threats to force him to do whatever he wanted, until the unhappy physician fled to Khurasan and remained there until al-Oahir was dead. Then he returned to Baghdad and lived there until his own death in 943. Thabit had many pupils, one of whom a Christian named 'Isa ibn Asd translated into Arabic various works which Thabit had composed inSyriac.

About 932-4 the city of Harran was destroyed either by the 'Alids, as Hamawi says, or by Egyptian invaders as Dimishqi asserts. The contemporary historian, John of Antioch, describes

this destruction.

In 975 Abu Ishaq ibn Hilal, secretary to the khalifs Muti' and Tai', obtained a decree granting religious toleration to the Sabaeans of Harran, ofwhom there were many in Baghdadsome were still there in the eleventh century-one of whom the -most distinguished were the mathematician Abu Ja'far al-Khazin, a convert to Islam, and Ibn al-Wahshiya, author of a work known as "the Nabataean Agriculture" (Kitab al-falaha an-nabatiya), which pretended to be a translation from ancient Babylonian. This work was finished in. 904: it is a collection of popular beliefs, superstitions, and legends. It gives no real botanical information but simply aims at proving that the ancient Babylonian civilization existed ages before the rise of the Arabs whose culture was a comparatively recent and inferior one. In fact it is an example of the strong anti-Arab animus characteristic of the early 'Abbasid period. The work had no influence on the development of intellectual culture amongst the Muslim Arabs.

After its destruction in 932-4 Harran was rebuilt, but destroyed again in 1032 when only the great Temple of the Moon was left standing. After these misfortunes it still lingered on and was visited by Ibn Jubayr in 1184, but in 1332 Abu I-Feda found only a decaying village on its site.

CHAPTER XIII THE ARAB PHILOSOPHERS

ARISTOTLE dominated the later school of Alexandria and his influence inevitably passed over to the Christian world and so to Islam. The Syriac study of Aristotle took form in the school of Edessa in the fifth century, his teaching then being chiefly confined to logic. With Aristotle's logical works were associated the Isagoge of Porphyry and his philosophy generally by the summary of the Syrian writer Damascius. Fuller study was reached by the use of commentaries, first by that of the Syriac Probus, then by the Alexandrians Ammonius and John Philoponus. Now it will be noted that these works used to interpret Aristotle were predominantly neo-Platonic, and that neo-Platonic strain remained in Arabic philosophy and influenced both it and Muslim theology. This influence was further increased by the acceptance of the abridgment of Plotinus' Enneads, iv-vi, as "the Theology of Aristotle" and so a genuinely Aristotelian work.

The fame of Aristotle spread amongst the Muslims as soon as they began to turn their attention to Greek scientific material, but for some time his actual teaching, very imperfectly reproduced at second hand, was all that was accessible to them. When they knew it better they found it not altogether to their liking, especially in the doctrine of the eternity of the universe which contradicted the Qur'anic teaching of creation, the denial of a special providence which conflicted with the idea of a divine control of affairs as taught in the Qur'an, and the denial of the resurrection of the body, all of which seemed to the orthodox little better than blasphemy. At first Aristotle was accepted only as a logician, but afterwards translations were made of some of the treatises on natural science a very unsatisfactory one of the Metaphysics, and to these were added several spurious works, though of these the only definitely tendencious one was the so-called Theology.

Aristotelian study proper began with Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. after 873), commonly known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was of pure Arab birth though the Chahar Maqala strangely refers to him as a Jew, in spite of the emphasis always laid on the purity of his Arab descent. He was bom at Kufa where his father was governor, educated at Basra and Baghdad, and was still alive in 873. At first he worked as a translator and did not undertake any original work until he had proved his competence in making translations of Greek philosophical and scientific works. He became entirely devoted to the teaching of Aristotle and is generally regarded as the first of the line of Arab philosophers who professedly followed the neo-Aristotelian school. It was to such that the Muslims applied the name of "philosophers", using the term to designate those whom they regarded as members of a sect definitely unorthodox in its tendencies. Al-Kindi's own speculations in theology were of the Mu'tazilite or rationalist type prevalent at al-Ma'mun's court and which that prince tried to enforce generally by issuing a decree asserting the Qur'an to be created, not co-etemal with God. Al-Ma'mun made him tutor to the prince who in due course ascended the throne as al-Mu'tasim (833-847), and it is said that for him al-Kindi translated the so-called "Theology of Aristotle ", although that translation was also attributed to 'Abd al-Masih al-Himsi and with greater probability, for al-Himsi was a Syrian Christian and it was in Syria that the work received its readiest welcome. Possibly it was translated by al-Himsi and revised by al-Kindi. Certainly al-Kindi accepted it as a genuine Aristotelian work and adopted its teaching, which shows a type of mystical theology easily inclining towards pantheism, indeed pantheistic tendencies constantly showed themselves in Arabic Aristotelianism. Like other rationalists al-Kindi fell under suspicion at the accession of the rigidly orthodox Mutawakkil in 847 and was disciplined by the confiscation of his library like Hunayn ibn Ishaq, but after a while it was restored to him.

His chief importance lay in his definite acceptance of Aristotle as "the Philosopher", no longer simply as a teacher of logic. He professed to be his follower and took him as authoritative, practically inspired, teacher, and in this was the founder of the Arab Aristotelian school, though his actual work lay chiefly in translating and introducing to the Arabs the teaching of the Philosopher instead of the vague and inaccurate notions they had gathered and exaggerated in the process from Syriac exponents. In the Arabic Aristotelian school the teaching of Aristotle was accepted even when in conflict with the literal statements of the Qur'an. It was regarded as truth which was only intelligible to the enlightened, whilst the Qur'an and orthodox doctrine generally served well enough for the unlettered and was best adapted for them. Some followers of this school went farther and held that the Qur'an had an esoteric meaning disclosed only to the discerning, and that that esoteric meaning agreed with the teaching of Aristotle, It was the familiar problem, granted that science and revelation are both true, they must somehow agree together although they seem to contradict one another.

It was, however, Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (d. 950) at the court of Sayf ad-Dawla, at Aleppo, who really shaped the philosophical teaching of Arabic Aristotelianism, basing his work on the better knowledge of the text of Aristotle made accessible by the labours of al-Kindi. Al-Farabi was of a Turkish family of Transoxiana, but had studied in Baghdad under the Christian physician Yuhanna ibn Hailam and Abu Bishr Matta, already mentioned as a translator. He was a commentator on Aristotle and built up a system of philosophy from Aristotelian and neo-Platonic material, this latter then generally accepted as the correct interpretation of "the Philosopher's" teaching, which resulted in a kind of Muslim neo-Platonism. From this he came to be known as "the second teacher ", that is to say, the authority next after Aristotle. He accepted the Qur'an as true, but maintained that philosophy also was true, so the two must agree: in so far as they appear not to agree steps must be taken to reconcile them, for truth must be consistent and apparent inconsistencies can be explained away.

He assumed that Plato and Aristotle were at one. This was then the accepted view, and as Plato was known in the neo-Platonic form as interpreted by Porphyry, the resultant svstem was very strongly tinctured with neo-Platonism. "The more pious added the third element of the Qur'an, and it must remain a marvel and a magnificent testimonial to their skill and patience that they even got so far as they did, and that the whole movement did not end in simple lunacy. That al-Farabi should have been so incisive a writer, so wide a thinker and student that Ibn Sina should have been so keen and clear a scientist and logician, that Ibn Rushd should have known--really known--and commented his Aristotle as he did, shows that the human brain, after all, is a sane brain and has the power of unconsciously rejecting and throwing out nonsense and falsehood" (D. B. Macdonald, Development of Muslim Theology, 163). It is significant that almost all the great scientists and philosophers of the Arabs were classed as Aristotelians tracing their intellectual descent from al-Kindi and al-Farabi and most of them professed to belong to that school.

But al-Kindi's more accurate study of Aristotle had not entirely disposed of the older inaccurate pseudo-Aristotelianism which had prevailed amongst the imperfectly informed Arabs of an earlier day. Probably in the opening years of the tenth century and in Baghdad there was gathered a group of men who called themselves the Ikhwan as-Safa "the Brotherhood of Purity" or "the Sincere Brethren", but is more probably intended to express the term "philosophers", at a time when the recent accession to power of the Buwayhid dictators produced a temporary experience of toleration and free thought. Somewhere about A. D. 98o this group produced a body of epistles or essays which aimed at being a complete encyclopedia of philosophy and science. These essays are 52 in number the first fourteen deal with mathematics and logic, 15-31 with natural science, 32-41 with metaphysics, the remainder with mystic theology, astrology, and magic. Epistle 45 describes the organization and guiding principles of the brotherhood. Very commonly the Imam Ahmad is given as the author of this work, but Shahruzi names five contributors, Abu Hasan 'Ali b. Harun az-Zinjani, Abu Ahmad an-Nahajuri (or Mihrajani), Abu Sulaiman Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Busti (or al-Muqaddisi), al-'Awfi, and Zayd ibn Rifa'a. These letters were produced in or near Basra or Baghdad. The contents show a kind of obscure and crude type of Aristotelianism, such the earlier period of the revival of Greek as was current in curate standard, science, before al-Kindi had set a more ac but references are made to older philosophies, to Hermes, Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato, all confused and vague. Aristotle appears chiefly as a logician: the "Theology of Aristotle" and the "Book of the Apple" are accepted as genuine Aristotelian works. No reference is made to al-Kindi or his work, but Abu Ma'shar and other eighth or ninth century writers arc quoted. There is no trace of the influence of al-Kindi. The doctrine contained in these letters is eclectic, the world is described as an emanation from God, the human soul as of celestial origin and striving to return to God and to be absorbed in Him, a consummation to be attained by wisdom, the Gnosis of Gnostic and neo-Platonic writers. The Qur'anis interpreted allegorically, and reference is made to the Christian and Jewish scriptures, which are treated in a similar way. This teaching shows distinctly Shi'ite, probably Isma'ilian, tendencies, but the language in which it is expressed is involved and obscure, perhaps intentionally so with the intention of veiling spiritual teaching from the profane. The Batini or allegorical movement had its roots in older nonMuslim thought, and presumably had survived in Lower Mesopotamia where were many ancient creeds, all more or less mixed up with politically subversive movements: this was the area in which the Khalif al-Mahdi had tried to suppress the Zindiqs or "atheists ", and in which the Qarmates afterwards had their beginnings, the home of the Isma'ilians, in any case definitely anti-'Abbasid and anti-Arab. In Islam this kind of Batini thought was strongest in the Isma'ilian sect, it had strong Gnostic tendencies and laid great stress on the spiritual and esoteric, as against the exoteric (Lewis, Origins of Isma'ilism, Camb., 1940, 44 sq.). This type of thought is interesting as it represents the "wisdom "cherished by the Isma'ilians, by their adherents in the Fatimid khalifate in Egypt and later by the Assassins of Central Asia and Syria, offihoots of the Fatimids, and presumably by the Druzes of the Lebanon. Though very far removed from the natural line of Islamic thought it still forms a living and vigorous branch of Islam, though it is not Arab

Reference has already been made to the attitude which was adopted by the "philosophers" towards the Qur'an and orthodox doctrine generally. This is best illustrated by reference to the philosophical romance of Haiy ibn Yuqsan "The Living One son of the Wakeful", composed by the Andalusian philosopher Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Tufayl, who died in Maghrab (Morocco) in 1185-8. This book pictures two islands, one densely peopled, the other believed to be uninhabited. On the former are ordinary people living conventional lives and satisfied with the customary observances of the precepts of religion. Amongst them are two prominent characters, Asal and Salaman, who by self-discipline have raised themselves to a higher plane. Salaman outwardly adapts himself to conventional religion, but Asal tries to discover deeper s ritual truths by meditation: to do this the better he removes to the other island where he finds one occupant Haiy ibn Yuqsan who has lived there in solitude from infancy and by the innate powers of his mind has developed a lofty philosophy and attained the Divine Vision, so that all things are made plain to him. As they talk together Asal describes the benighted state of the dwellers on the other island, and Haiy is so moved with pity at his recital that he goes over to that other island and tries to preach the higher philosophy which he has acquired. But he soon discovers that the inhabitants there are unable to rise to his teaching, and in the end came to the conclusion that their conventional religion was that best adapted to their capacity. He went back to his former home and there devoted himself to a life of solitary contemplation. This led to the conclusion that religion, as commonly accepted, following the faith revealed through Muhammad and the precepts laid down by him, is that most suitable for average humanity: speculative philosophy should be restricted to the select few who ought not to publish their conclusions to the unenlightened multitude.

NOTES

1 Note 1, Aramaic.

The Aramaean people were an outlying northern branch of the Arabs, nomads of the desert between Mesopotamia and Syria. They appear already in the Babylonian-Assyrian inscriptions of the fourteenth century B. C. as Arime or Akhlame and menaced the western borders of the empires of the Euphrates-Tigris valley. They invaded Syria where there already existed a non-Semitic civilization. That civilization they adopted and developed, but imposed their own language on the older population. In course of time their language, Aramaic, replaced Assyrian in the Assyrian Empire, and finally became the lingua franca of Western Asia under the Persians; entirely replacing the older dialects of Canaan, and even spreading across to Egypt. The oldest extant documents in Aramaic are Jewish, the Aramaic portions of Ezra (4-8-6.18) and Daniel (2.4b7.28) in the Old Testament. The Aramaic text of Ezra is of an archaic form, that of Daniel is much later. Of the third century B. C. there are inscriptions from Palmyra where an Aramaean people lived und-er an Arab aristocracy, and of the first century B. C. from Nabataea where an Arab peo le used Aramaic as a literary dialect, if inscriptions can be regarded as literary.

In Christian times Aramaic appears in two dialectal forms, Western and Eastern, the former with a phonology which has resemblances with Hebrew, probably representing the vernacular of the Syrian and Palestinian littoral, whilst the Eastern remains more true to the earlier Aramaic. The Eastern form is used in the Jewish Aramaic of the Targums and Talmud (Gemara). The Aramaic of Palestine, which gave way before the Arab conquest, known to us only in fragments recovered of recent years from Sinai, Egypt, and Damascus. In the hinterland Aramaic survived in the western dialect only in some communities in the Lebanon, but the eastern dialect spread from the highlands of Armenia to the Persian Gulf and produced a rich literature. The focus of that literary output was at Edessa, and the material produced belongs chiefly to the Christian era, though there was a certain pre-Christian Edessene literature. But most of its material dates from the third century A. D. onwards. The Christian Aramaic writers introduced the term Siirave as the name of their language, a name based on the fact that its home was in the Roman province of Syria, and from that it is usual to employ the term Syriac to denote Ch-ristian Aramaic. A distinctive feature of this Aramaic is the use of the prefix ri- in the 3rd person of the impcrfect tense of the verb in place of the y- which appears in other Semitic languages.

2 Note 2, The Zoroastrian Religion.

The primitive religion of the Medes and Persians was of the Aryan type. Zoroaster was a reformer who preached probably in Media (East Persia) in the sixth century B. C.
(Thus A. J. Jackson, Zoroaster the Prophet of Ancient Iran, New York, 1899.) No reference to him occurs in Herodotus, who refers to the Magi or members of the priestly caste and reckons them as one of the six tribes into which the Medes were divided (Herodotus, i, 101). The office of the Persian priests was not to sacrifice but to be present when sacrifice was offered and recite the proper liturgical formulae without which no sacrifice was valid (Herdt., i, 132). In addition-to this exclusive knowledge of the liturgical forms the Magi were supposed to possess the power of interpreting dreams (Herdt., i, 107). Herodotus points out a striking &ifference between the Egyptian priests and these Magi in that the former were careful to avoid taking life except in offering sacrifice whilst the Magi were under no such prohibition, but were ready to kill an; animals, except only dogs and men (Herdt., i, 14o). The Persian dead were not buried unless their bodies were first torn by a dog or some bird of prey (ibid.). The religion of the Medes and Persians hid no idols, no temples or altars, but sacrifice was offered upon lofty mountains to the universe, to the sun, and moon, and to earth, fire, water, and the winds (Herdt., i, 131).

This religion, as described by Herodotus, seems to have been that of the Medes amongst whom Zoroaster preached. It was probably about the same time the Medes conquered the Persians and introduced the religious reforms of Zoroaster at least amongst the ruling Persian aristocracy. It is doubtful whether the Achaemenid kings of ancient Persia before the time of Alexander were actually Zoroastrians, but J. H. Moulton's Early Zoroastrianism makes a good case in favour being so.

The tradition is that the sacred books of the Persians were destroyed by Alexander, but it is more probable that the liturgical forms were not yet reduced to writing. Adnaittedly those forms exist only in fragmentary form.

When the Parthians established an independent kingdom about 238 B-c- they adopted the Zoroastrian religion and the "everlasting fire "was cherished and reverenced in the royal city 6f Asaak, at least until the later Parthian monarchs. Such fragments of the sacred Avesta as could be recovered were then translated into Pehlewi, which is a later form of the language used in the Avesta and inscriptions. The older language was written in cuneiform, but Pehlewi used an alphabet Of Aramaic origin. The later Arsacid kings seem to have been devoted to the Zoroastrian religion until just towards the end when, it is said, the sacred fire was allowed to go out.

Apparently Zoroastrianism had several rivals, survivals of the older religion which were only partially touched by Zoroaster's reforms. It was the task of the earlier Sasanids to impose the Zoroastrian religion and to exterminate those variants as heresies. The text of the Avesta was revised and completed by a priest named Aturpat-i-Maraspandan during the reign of Shapur I forced (A. D. 309-379). In 456 Yezdegird II forced Zoroastrianism on Armenia where, however, it did not take hold permanently. The golden age of Zoroastrianism and that of Pehlewi literature was the reign of Khusraw I (A. D. 531-578), and at that time it was still a missionary religion which the Persian monarchs imposed on the lands they conquered. It thus spread eastwards as a rival of Buddhism without, however, exterminating the followers of Buddha. At that time Buddhism was losing ground in Central Asia, but making substantial progress in the Far East.

3 Note 3, Nestorius.

According to Socrates (Eccles. Hist., vii, 29) there were two candidates for the see of Constantinople at t. he death of Sisinnius. One of these was Philip of Side who is described as an ambitious writer, the author of a work which he called not an Ecclesiastical History but a "Christian History" (Socrates, Eccles. Hist., vii, 23), and the other was Proclus whom Sisennius had ordained Bishop of Cyzicum, but the people of that city refused to accept him as their bishop (ibid., 28). "At the death of Sisennius, on account of the factions and rivalries of the church as to the episcopate, it seemed good to the emperors to appoint neither, for many strove for Philip, many for Prcclus, to be ordained. Therefore they decided to invite one from Antioch, for there was, there a certain man, Nestorius by name, called the Germanican, a good speaker and eloquent"
(ibid., 29, 1-3). This makes it clear that from the beginning of his episcopate Nestorius had two sets of opponents to face.

"Nestorius brought with him from Antioch a presbyter named Anastasius," and he "preaching one day in the church said, 'Let no one call Mary the Mother of God
(theotokos), for Mary was but a woman, and it is impossible that God should be bom of a woman'" (ibid., 32, 2-3). At that time, following the Nicene Council, the accepted doctrine was that Christ had two natures, the human and the divine, both united in one person, and Anastasius apparently intended to say that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the mother of the human nature only. But popular opinion at Constantinople at once represented Anastasius as reviving the reaching of Paul of Samosata and Photinus that Christ was merely a man. Socrates, who treats Nestorius with respect and some degree of sympathy, says that he did not hold that view nor did he deny the deity of Christ, "but he feared the term alone as though (it were) a ghost and he was alarmed at this because of great ignornace" (ibid., 32, 12). "The term" of course means "Mother of God". It seems a logical deduction from the doctrine that Christ was God and man at his birth to give the name of Theotokos to the Virgin Mother, and the term is used by Eusebious (De Vita Constant., iii, 43), by Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech., x, 146), and St. Athanasius (Orat. III c. Arianos, xv, 33), and so must have been regarded as consistent with Nicene doctrine. Hesychius, a presbyter of Jerusalem who died in 343, goes further and calls David the ancestor of Christ "father of God" (Theopator, Photius, Cod. 275). Nestorius' own explanation of his objection to the term is given by Evagrius (Eccles. Hist. i, 7): "he asserts that he was driven to assume this position by absolute necessity because of the division of the Church into two parties, one holding that Mary ought to be called Mother of Man, the other Mother of God, and he introduced the term Mother of Christ in order, as he says, that either might not be incurred by adopting either extreme, either a term which too closely united immortal essence with humanity or one whilst admitting one of the two natures made no reference to the other."

At the Council of Ephesus the charge was brought against Nestorius that he had stated in a discourse that "the creature did not give birth to the uncreated but bore a man, the instrument of the Deity. The Holy Spirit did not create God the Word, but made for God the Word a temp night occupy, from the Virgin... He who was born and needed time to be formed and was carried the necessary months in the womb, had a human nature, but a nature joined with God" (Mansi Concilia. iv, 1197).

The usual view of Nestorius' teaching was that Christ's body was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit in the Blessed Virgin Mary, but that he was born a man: the Holy Spirit afterwards descended on Him and then the "Godhead entered into Him. Such is the account given by St. Augustine (Di Haeresibus, Appendix, ch. 91). In favour of this must be cited Nestorius' words as reported by Socrates (Eccles. Hist. vii, 34, 4): "I, said Nestorius, will not call him God when he was two or three months old."

According to the teaching of Muhammad, a Spirit came from God to tell Mary that she should bear a son (Qur. 19, 19), she being then a virgin (ibid., 20), but she conceived without detriment to her virginity (ibid., 28-9). The miraculous virgin birth is asserted, but it is denied that He who was born of her was the Son of God (ibid., 36, 4, 169). The Holy Spirit was given to Him (Qur. 5, 109). His birth is treated as an act of creation: the Virgin Mother said, "How, O my Lord, shall I have a son when no man has touched me? He said: Thus, God will create what He will: when he decrceth a thing He only saith, Be, and it is" (Qur., 8, 42): He is as Adam, created from the dust (Qur., 19, 17-22;
5, 110).

4 Note 4, Hira.

Hira (Syriac Ijirta) was founded about A. D. 240. It is mentioned as a Parthian town under the name of Ertha in Glaucus, Fragmenta, ed. Mullar, p. 409, and Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, ed. Meineke, P. 276. The city consisted of a number of fortified dwellings of the kind known as qasr, plur. qusur, each a rectangle surrounding a courtyard, the enclosing wall having only one door which opened into the courtyard. The upper part of this wall had loopholes for defense and there was a bastion or tower at each corner. All the qusur were assembled around an open space which had no separate defences. There was no city wall surrounding the group, nor was there any central stronghold or citadel in which valuables might be stored. Thus when Khalad ibn al-Walid in the autumn of 634 attacked Hira the inhabitants retired to their fortified qusur which Khalad was unable to take, but they could not bring their herds or sheep into safety, but had to leave them outside. The Arabs drove off the animals and turned them into the stnading harvest, at which the people of Hira asked for terms and surrendered.

The Arab population of Hira lived under the rule of the royal dynasty of the Lakhmids, whole chief was given the title of "king" by the Persian monarch. These Arabs were early in touch with Christian missionaries and a church existed there from the beginning of the fifth century. Amongst the signatures of the Council of Seleucia in 410 is that of Hosha', Bishop of Hirta'. This council is erroneously described by Musil as "Nestorian". The Nestorians did not come into existence until 430, but there were councils in the Persian Church before then. For some considerable time, however, the ruling dynasty and many of the Arab citizens remained pagans. It was only in the days of the Patriarch Isho'yahb (582-595) that King Nu'man V was baptized by the Bishop of Hira Simeon. Nu'man's sister Hind founded the monastery called after her name Der Beni Hind, north of Hira, and there Isho'yahb's body was brought after his death at Beth Oush and buried. Isho'yahb died in exile as he had fled from Persia to escape the anger of King Khusraw. After the capture of Hira by Khaled in 634 the ruling Arabs were ordered to choose between three alternatives: (i) to embrace Islam, (ii) to pay the poll tax, or
(iii) to continue war. These demands were made because the Arabs of tera were regarded as people of Arabia for whom membership of the Muslim confraternity was compulsory. The conditions did not affect the Aramaic subject population. The Arabs of Hira consented to accept Islam, as indeed they had already done before the death of Muhammad, but had afterwards fallen away, whilst the subiect population remained Christian of the Nestorian Church and became liable to the poll tax.

In the centre of Hira was another large monastery known as that of the Son of Maz'uq, and that was frequented as a pleasure resort by the people on festivals
(Ash-Shabushti, Diyaret, MS. fo. 101r, cited by Musil, The Middle Euphrates, 103).

Hira appears in church history as a stronghold of Nestorianism, but it had not always been so. According to al-Ya'qubi, Ta'rih, ed. Houtsma, i, 258, the Iyad tribe moved from al. yemama to Hira, where they already possessed several of the qusur, but later was transferred by Kisra' (Khusraw?) to Tekrit, the central market of Upper Mesopotamia. Tekrit was strongly Monophysite and that presumably was the religious affiliation of the Iyad so, if they were Christians at the time of their sojourn in Hira, they must have given the place an anti Nestorian tone. It is, however, very probable that they had not yet embraced Christianity when they were sojourners in Hira, nor is it at all clear that Hira was as yet Christian at that time.

Though a great Nestorian centre Hira had no Nestorian academy and Christians desiring a higher education went to Jundi-Shapur, as Hunayn ibn Ishaq did. From Ibn Masawaih's contemptuous reference to Hira and its people it seems to have been regarded as a place wholly devoted to commerce and neglectful of scholarship.

The royal court of the Lakhmids at Mra brought a tone of luxury and pomp amongst the Arabs which is reflected in the poetry of those early poets associated with Hira. The older type of "desert" poet sang about the hardships of desert life and tribal wars, mingling his song with praise of his patrons and derision of their enemies. Those poets known to have been associated with the court of Hira introduced an erotic element and often sang in praise of wine and drinking parties, subjects unfamiliar to the true desert poet. Such was not the case, however, with the poet Tarafa ibn al-'Abd, who was connected with the court of King 'Amr ibn Hind (circ. 554-568), because his poems were composed before he went to court. Nor was it the case with Labid ibn Rabi'a Abu 'Aqil (d. 66 i, 662, or 663) who boasts of being a member of the majlis or senate of Hira, and whose poetry shows a grave and moral element which may reflect the influence of pre-Islamic Christian teaching, a tone apparent also in the poetry of Nabigha and in that of Zuhayr, both favourites of King Nu'man ibn Mundhir of Hira. The poetry of A'sha Maymun ibn Qays contains passages which may show the influence of Christian teaching, but other passages dwell on wine and wine parties either, or both, of which may be coloured by the poet's intercourse with the Christian wine merchants of Hira with whom he dealt.

The camp-city of Kufa was founded near Hira soon after the year 638 and when 'Ali came there in 657 it already was a considerable town. As it grew the population of Hira tended to drift over to it. But the two great palaces of as-Sadir ana al-Khawamaq close by still remained in partial use, and the latter sometimes served as a hunting lodge for the earlier 'Abbasid khalifs. Hira is now represented by a mound of ruins south-east of the mound of al-Knedre, half-way between the ruins of Kufa and al-Khawarnaq (cf Musil, The Middle Euphrates, p. 35, n. 26).

5 Note 5, Eutyches.

Eutyches was examined and condemned by a local synod held by the Patriarch Flavian of Constantinople. The proceedings of that synod are given in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (Mansi, Concilia, vi, 649 sqq.). When asked to acknowledge that there were two natures in Christ he refused to do so and for this was condemned (cf. Eutyclies' letter to Pope Leo in Mansi, v, 1015, "expetebar duas naturas fateri at anathematizare cos qui hoc negari"). He supposed that the human nature was entirely absorbed in the divine. This was the teaching attributed to the Monophysites, as their name implies, those who refused to accept the decrees of Chalcedon. The difficulty is that those anti-Chalcedonians included several diverse groups and it was only one such group, that led by Julian, Bishop of Halicarnassus, which pressed this to a logical conclusion. The Julianists were described as Aphthartodoketai or Phantasiastae, those who held that the human body of Chrisi was so infused by the Deity that it had only the pearance of humanity and was not subject to corruption, a doctrine denied by he more moderate party led by Severus of Antioch. Both Severians and. Julianist split into sub-divisions, which does not concern us at present, and ultimately the Julianists disappeared altogether, but modern works on theology commonly attribute to all "Monophysites" the doctrines of the extreme Julianists

6 Note 6, Tekrit ( Tagrit).

Tagrit was about thirty miles north of Samarra on the right bank of the Tigris and had a strong castle overlooking the river. The Iyad tribe which had been removed there from Hira by Kisra' (Khusraw?) had originally come from al-Yernama. Tekrit was a central market for all the nomadic tribes dwelling between the Tigris and Euphrates.

In the tenth century Ibn Hawqal noted that most of its inhabitants were Christians and that there was a great monastery there. These Christians of Tagrit were strongly anti-Nestorian and resisted Barsauma's attempt to convert Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., ii, 67-85). With the rise of Monophysitism they became ardent supporters of the Monophysite Church. The chief prelate of the Persian monophyites bore the title of Bishop of Tekrit, but for some time these prelates resided in the monastery of Mar Mattai, this for security as Monophysitism was not formally tolerated in Persia, but afterwards removed to the city of Tekrit. The first bishop to bear the title of Mafrianus was Maruta
(629). There were twelve bishops under the Mafrianus of Tekrit as metropolitan. the Muslim Arabs took Tekrit in 637 Maruta surrendered the castle to them. In the castle he built a cathedral which remained the principal church of the Persian Monophysites. Barjesu, who-was Mafrianus front 669 to 683, built a church at Tekrit in honour of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, and later on this was recognized as a second cathedral. Denha, who was Mafrianus after 614 consecrated bishops without the consent of the Patriarch Julian and for this was deposed and imprisoned in a monastery, but at Julian's death he was restored. He built a church in honour of St. Khudemmeh who had suffered martyrdom for baptizing a son of the Persian king, and this church was reckoned as a third cathedral. In addition to these cathedrals there were several ancient and important monasteries in Tekrit. The Mafrianus or supreme head of the Persian-Monophysites ceased to reside in Tekrit after 1513.

7 Note 7.

Sanskrit was developed as a sacred language. The results of this development were surnmed up in Panini's Astadhyayi probably in the fourth century B. C. It is artificial in form, and some have supposed that it was an artificial creation designed to counteract the influence of Pali literature by recasting Prakritic language with the help of Vedic forms, but this is doubtful. Changes took place in Sanskrit in the course of its prolonged literary history and much of what Panini teaches is not represented in literature. Prakrit is an artificial literary dialect derived from older Sanskrit. It exists in three forms

(i) Primary Prakrit, of which both Vedic and Sanskrit are literary forms.

(ii) Secondary Prakrit, which includes the Prakrit of the grammarians and Pali represented in literary form by speeches, sayings, poems, tales, rules of conduct, etc., and in larger collections known as pitaka. The Buddhist canon consists of three such collections (tipitaka) which were finally fixed in Ceylon in the first century A. D.

(iii) Tertiary Prakrit, which is the source from which modern dialects are derived.

8 Note 8, al-Anbar.

Al-Anbar "the Granaries" was on the left bank of the Euphrates and was one of the greater cities of Iraq. It controlled an important crossing of the Tigris and was the starting-point of the trade route across the desert to Syria. The city had been founded by Shapur I who named it Buzurg (or Peroz) Shabur, and is to be identified with the Virisuboras of Ammianus Marcellinus 24-2.9.22. It was also known as Abbarcon and it was by it that the young prince Khusraw II passed on his way to seek help from the Roman Emperor Maurice.

Towards the end of the fourth century the hermit Mar Yunan made his abode in the desolate environs of the city and there he died. A church was erected over his grave, but his body was afterwards removed to the principal church in the city. Outside the city precincts was the monastery of Mar Yunan, known as the Der al-Ghurab, to which the citizens went out annually as to a pleasure resort (Abu I-Fada'il, ed. juynboll, i, 141). This monastery was founded 'Al al-Masih about 540, and was demolished by the Khalif al-Mutawakkil in 853. The Christians of al-Anbar or Peroz were Nestorian and their Bishop Moshe' took part in the Nestorian synod Of 486 (J.-B. Chabot, Synodicon, 53). There was, however, also a Monophysite Bishop Aha in 629 (Michael the Syrian, Chonicle ed. Chabot, iv, 413). About 600 Rabban Aphni-Maran founded the monastery (or castle) of az-Za'faran on or near a high mountain, Jebal Judi, close by Peroz-Shabur. The name az-Za'faran was given it by the Arabs, its earlier name was the Monastery of Aphni-Maran of Khurkma.

The first 'Abbasid khalif, Abu I-'Abbas, after his installation in the great mosque of Kufa, went to al-Anbar and made his residence, and there he died in 754. His brother and successor al-Mansur lived there until he removed him to his new capital Baghdad. In 797 Narun ar-Rashid stayed in the town and found that many Persians from Khurasan had taken up their abode there. He visited al-Anbar again in 803 on his return from pilgrimage, residing in the al-'Umr mosque which was adjacent to the monastery of Mar Yunan, and whilst there had the wazir Ja'far ibn Yahya the Barmakid murdered.

9 Note 9, Jewish Agency.

The Jews were prominent in spreading Arabic science, especially medicine, to Egypt and the West, North Africa and Spain, beginning with Ishaq ibn Amran al-Isra'eli, who served at the court of Ziyadet Allah III (902-3) at Qairawan, been partly as a kind of lecturer on philosophy. He had been trained in Baghdad and was in touch with the work done there in translation and exposition of the Greek authorities. As a lecturer he was a failure because Ziyadet Allah was so given to pleasure and amusements that he had no attention to spare for philosophy. Disappointed at this Ishaq devoted himself to the further study of Greek medicine and became a pioneer in introducing it to Africa, whence it spread westward to the Maghreb and then to Andalus. His treatise, Kitab al-bawl, on urine is the best medieval work on the subject, His "Guide to Physicians", of which the Arabic text is now lost, was translated into Hebrew as Manhig (or Musar) ha-rofe'in, and became a favourite manual for Jewish physicians. He seems to have been the first Arabic medical authority introduced to the Christian west in a Latin translation by Constantine the African (1087), which was was afterwards printed at Leiden in
1515. From his time onwards Jewish physicians, then astronomers and philosophers, played a prominent part in transmitting to the west Greek science as known and interpreted in Baghdad.

But before Ishaq there were Jewish physicians in Egypt and Syria, though there are no details of their activities. Presumably they were in touch with the renaissance of Greek science which stirred the Hellenistic world and had its repercussion in the Aramaic (Syriac) community, and perhaps the Jews had an independent transmission from Alexandria which was a great Jewish centre. The medical writer Abu 1-Hasan 'Ali ibn Sahl ibn Rabban (d. 850) was a Muslim but the son of a Jewish physician of Marw, and was the teacher of Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi (Rhazes or Rases), so obviously Greek medical science had already reached the Jews of Eastern Persia. Mashallah ibn Athari (d. 815-820), one of the astrologers called in by al-Mansur at the foundation of Baghdad, is said to have been a Jew. Our general conclusion must be that there were Jewish scientists, and especially physicians, in touch with the revival of Greek science which was in progress during the eighth century, though none of these seem to have been of great prominence before Sahl ibn Rabban and Ishaq ibn Amran.

Was there any independent Hellenistic revival amongst the Jews? It does not appear that such was the case. There was a succession ofjewish teachers and schools from the last days of Jerusalem onwards, but these were concerned with the law of Moses and traditions illustrating and explaining the law. Under the Sassanids there were distinguished rabbinical schools at Nehardea on the Nehar between the Tigris and Euphrates, at Machusa on the Tigris near Ctesiphon, at Sora on the Euphrates about 20 parasangs from Nehardea, and at Pumbaaitha. These had a somewhat chequered history, but under Khusraw II they prospered and are said to have incitided scientific research as well as purely rabbinical studies in their work. How far this actually was the case is not clear. Samuel of Nehardea (d. 250) is said to have been learned in astronomy, but at that early date when scientific material was accessible only in Greek it probably did not amount to much. Most likely it meant the computation of dates, festivals, and times of fasting, parallel with the computation of Easter which passed as astronomy amongst Christians. The fuller development of scientific studies seem to have come much later and to have been due to contact with the Syriac world which had adopted Greek science in an Aramaic version, and to have reached maturity about the time of the foundation of Baghdad, or a little later under Harun ar-Rashid. It appears that Sa'da Gaon at Pithom (al-Fayyum) in Egypt (892-942) who made translations from Hebrew into Arabic was mainly responsible for making Arabic replace Hebrew or Aramaic as the literary language of Judaism, and as long as this use of Arabic continued the Jews were in close contact with contempory Arab scientific and philosophical thought. When the use of Hebrew was revivied translations were made from Arabic into Hebrew, and many Arabic scientific works are now known to us only in these Hebrew versions. A survey of this material shows that Jewish interest was most prominent in medical studies. The Jews played a leading part in transmitting scientific material from Arabic to Latin, chiefly through Cordova, Toledo, and Barcelona. Earlier Latin versions connect with Monte Cassino, Tyre, and (Syrian) Tripoli, later with the Dominican friars in Syria, and these were not indebted to Jewish workers, though they seem to have selected Jewish works such as these of Ishaq ibn Amran as best suited for teaching medical science to the Christian west.

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