Arabic Authors A Manual of Arabian History and Literature

HISTORICAL.

Arabia: its boundaries, divisions of districts, revenues, area, population, and history.--Tribe of Koraish.--The Kaabah at Mecca.--Muhammad.--His immediate successors: Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, Ali.--The Omaiyides.--Fate of Hasan and Hussain, sons of Ali--Sunnis and Shiahs.--Overthrow of the Omaiyides by the Abbasides.--The Omaiyides in Spain; their conquests and government.--The Moors, and their final expulsion.--To what extent Europe is indebted to the Spanish Arabs.--Their literature and architecture.--The Abbaside Khalifs at Baghdad.--Persia, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia become detached from their government in the course of time.--Fall of Baghdad itself in A.D. 1258.--Dealings of the Turks with Arabia.--The Wahhabi reform movement.--Expeditions of the Turks and Egyptians to suppress it.--Various defeats and successes.--Present form of government in Arabia.--Its future prospects.--List of the Omaiyide Khalifs, preceded by Muhammad and his four immediate successors.--List of the Abbaside Khalifs.--List of the Arab rulers in Spain.

CHAPTER II.

LITERARY.

About the Arabic and Chinese languages.--The permanent character of the former attributed to the Koran.--Division of Arab literature into three periods: I. The time before Muhammad.--The sage Lokman; the description of three Lokmans; Arab poetry before the Koran; the seven suspended poems, known as the Mua'llakat, at Mecca; notions of the Arabs about poetry; their Kasidas; description of the Kasidas of Amriolkais, Antara, Labid, Tarafa, Amru, Harath, and Zoheir; the poets Nabiga, Al-Kama, and Al-Aasha. II. The period from the time of Muhammad to the fall of the Abbasides.--Muhammad considered as a poet; the poets who were hostile to him; his panegyrist Kab bin Zoheir; account of him and his 'Poem of the Mantle,' and the results; Al-Busiri's 'Poem of the Mantle;' names of poets favourable and hostile to Muhammad; the seven jurisconsults; the four imams; the six fathers of tradition; the early traditionists; the companions; the alchemists; the astronomers; the grammarians; the geographers and travellers; the historians; the tabulators and biographers; the writers about natural history; the philologists; the philosophers; the physicians; the poets; the collectors and editors of poems; the essayist Al-Hariri; many translators; special notice of Ibn Al-Mukaffa; support given to learning and literature by certain of the Omaiyide, Abbaside, and Spanish Arab Khalifs; description of Baghdad; reign of Harun-ar-Rashid; the Barmekides; the Khalif Razi-billah; Hakim II. at Cordova; his education; his accession to the throne; his collection of books; his library, and its catalogue; places of learning in the East at this time. III. Third period, from the fall of Baghdad to the present time.--Certain historians; Ibn Malik, the grammarian; Ibn Batuta, the traveller; Abul Feda, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Kesir, Ibn Hajar, Ibn Arabshah--all historians; Firuzabadi, Taki-uddin of Fez, Al-Makrisi, Sayuti, Ibn Kamal Pasha, Abu Sa'ud the mufti, Ibrahim of Aleppo, Birgeli, Abul Khair; celebrated caligraphers, past and present, Haji Khalfa, Muhammad al Amin of Damascus, Makkari. Decline of Arabic literature: its present form. About the printing-presses of Arabic works at various places.

CHAPTER III.

ABOUT MUHAMMAD.

A complete summary of the details of his life, from his birth to his death.--Remarks upon him as a reformer, preacher, and apostle.--The Hanyfs.--Muhammad's early idea of establishing one religion for the Jews, Christians, and Arabs.--His long struggle with the Koraish.--His failure at Mecca.--His success at Madinah.--Adapts his views to the manners and customs of the Arabs only.--The reason of his many marriages.--His love of women.--About the Koran.--Not collected and arranged until after his death.--Comparison of the Koran with the Old and New Testaments.--Superiority of our Bible.--Description of it by 'Il Secolo.'--Rev. Mr. Badger's description of the Koran.--Written in the purest Arabic, and defies competition.--Muhammad and Moses, Jesus and Buddha.--Remarks about Buddhism and Christianity.--Moses and Muhammad the founders of two nationalities.--Abraham the father of the Jewish, Christian, and Muhammadan religions.--Rénan's description of the gods of the Jews.--Joseph.--The Twelve Tribes.--Appearance of Moses as a liberator and organizer.--The reasons of his wanderings in the desert.--What the Jews owed to Moses, and the Arabs to Muhammad.--The latter as a military leader.--Resemblance of the warlike expeditions of the Jews and of the Arabs.--Similar proceedings in the Soudan at the present time.--Account of the dogmas and precepts of Islam as embodied in the Koran.--Other points connected with the institutions of Islam.--Faith and prayer always insisted upon.--Democratic character of the Muhammadan religion, excellent in theory, but doubtful in practice.--Muhammad's last address at Mina, telling the Muslims that they were one brotherhood.--His final remarks.