A Literary History of the Arabs

Before proceeding to speak of the terrible catastrophe which filled the whole of Western Asia with ruin and desolation, I may offer a few preliminary remarks concerning the gene...

Pre-Islamic poetry was the natural expression of nomad life. We might therefore have expected that the new conditions and ideas introduced by Islam would rapidly work a correspo...

The Caliphate--_i.e._, the period of the Caliphs or Successors of Muḥammad--extends over six centuries and a quarter (632-1258 A.D.), and falls into three clearly-marked divisio...

"When there appeared a poet in a family of the Arabs, the other tribes round about would gather together to that family and wish them joy of their good luck. Feasts would be got...

Sale's translation, which has been frequently reprinted, is still serviceable. Mention may also be made of the English versions by J. M. Rodwell (London and Hertford, 1861) and...

Muḥammadans include the whole period of Arabian history from the earliest times down to the establishment of Islam in the term _al-Jáhiliyya_, which was used by Muḥammad in four...

We have already given some account of the great political revolution which took place under the ‘Abbásid dynasty, and we have now to consider the no less vital influence of the...

With the appearance of Muḥammad the almost impenetrable veil thrown over the preceding age is suddenly lifted and we find ourselves on the solid ground of historical tradition....

It will be remembered that before the end of the first century of the Hijra, in the reign of the Umayyad Caliph, Walíd b. ‘Abd al-Malik (705-715 A.D.), the Moslems under Ṭáriq a...

The annals of the ‘Abbásid dynasty from the accession of Saffáḥ (A.D. 749) to the death of Musta‘ṣim, and the destruction of Baghdád by the Mongols (A.D. 1258) make a round sum...

The same intense patriotism which caused Hamdání to devote himself to scientific research inspired Nashwán b. Sa‘íd, who descended on the father's side from one of the ancient p...

With the Sabæans Arabian history in the proper sense may be said to begin, but as a preliminary step we must take account of certain races which figure more or less prominently...