The Historians' History of the World 08

But whatever judgment we may pass upon Arabic scientific literature as a whole, however readily we may concede that in proportion to its vast bulk the part played by originality is small, while that played by the repetition of repetitions is very large indeed, it is nevertheless, on the whole, greatly superior to the contemporary literature of Europe. There we should seek in vain for such works as, e.g., the great Book of Songs, which sets before us in varied guise the course of Arabic poetry down to late Moslem days, and the lives and doings of the Arabs of old time and of the later courts (tenth century) alike; or the geographical work of Mukaddasi (tenth century), the works of Biruni (a Persian from the neighbourhood of what is now Khiva, tenth and eleventh centuries) on chronology and other subjects, which are equally remarkable for their keen observation and strictly scientific temper; the geographical dictionary of Yakut (a man of Byzantine lineage of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries); the politico-historical Introduction to the Chronicle of Ibn Khaldun (of Tunis, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) and many others. Not until close upon the dawn of the Renaissance does Europe gradually assert her decisive superiority over the East in every sphere of intellectual life. Arabic literature is of peculiar and supreme importance to ourselves because its vast store presents to us a comprehensive and vivid picture of life and thought in wide regions of the nearer East. Without it we should find the oriental peoples of antiquity far harder to understand. From this point of view the study of Arabic is of even greater importance as an aid to the right comprehension of the Old Testament and the cuneiform inscriptions than it is, on purely linguistic grounds, for the interpretation of the Hebrew and Assyrian languages.

INFLUENCE OF THE ARABS UPON EUROPE

The principal effect of Arab learning upon that of Europe consists in this—that a few Greek works which had been translated into Arabic and a few Arabic works which had followed in the footsteps of the Greek, were translated into Latin either from the original or through the medium of Hebrew versions, and thus became text-books to the Europeans. The original ideas of Arabic writers on medicine and mathematics may also have been imparted to western nations by translations of their writings. In all likelihood a European now and again studied medicine under the direct guidance of an oriental physician. Translations of certain Arabic books of tales and fables, native to India in the first instance, were widely circulated in Europe. Arabic poetry scarcely influenced that of Europe at all, at the utmost a few Romance verse-forms may be imitated from those of later Arabic poetry. Generally speaking we cannot but say that, in the region of intellectual activity, the influence of the Moslem on the Christian world was far slighter than we should have expected, considering the innumerable points of contact between the two in Spain, Sicily, the scene of the Crusades, and elsewhere. On the other hand, the Europeans borrowed many details of outward culture and luxury from the Orientals.

LATER EVENTS OF ARABIC CIVILIZATION