A literary history of Persia

2/8 THE GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM(37) Al-Akhfash "the intermediate" (al-Awsaf), or "the second"(f A.D. 835, or earlier), grammarian and philologist, a pupil ofSibawayhi, and probably, like his master, of Persian extraction.(38) Qus(d b. Liiqd, a Christian of Ba'labakk (Baalbek), a notabletranslator and compiler of medical, astronomical, and mathematicalworks, flourished about this time. He was still famous in Persia asan authority on these subjects in the middle of the eleventh centuryof our era, when Nasir-i-Khusraw wrote :Har kasi chizi hami-gt'iyad zi lira ra'y-i-khwish,Td gumdn dyad-t Kit, Qusldy bin Liiqd-sti." Every one, in his benighted ignorance, propounds some theory,That thou may'st suppose him to be a Qusta b. Luqa."(39) Al-Madaini (\ A.D. 840-845), a prolific writer on history, ofwhose works, unfortunately, only the titles (of which in areenumerated in the Fihrist) are preserved to us.(40) Al-Kindi (f A.D. 841), the eminent Arabian philosopher andphysician.(41) Ibnn'l-A'rdbi (\ A.D. 844), a well-known grammarian of Indianorigin, the step-son and pupil of al-Mufaddal (see No. 12 supra).(42) Abu Abdi'lldh Muhammad b. Salldm al-Jumahi (f A.D. 845),the author of a Biography of Poets (Tabaqdtush-Shii'ara), which isunfortunately lost, and isonly known to us by citations.(43) Ibn Sa'd (f A.D. 845), secretary to the celebrated al-Wdqidi(see No. 30 supra), author of the great Kitdbu't-Tabaqdti'l-Kabir, whichis to be published in the near future at Leyden.(44) Abu Tammdm (f A.D. 846), panegyrist of the Caliph al-Mu'tasim and later of 'Abdu'llah b. Tahir, the governor of Khurasan,but better known as the author of the great Anthology of ancientArabic poetry called the Hamdsa, " wherein," says his commentatorat-Tabrizi, " he showed himself a better poet than in his own verses."(45) Diku'l-Jinn (\ A.D. 849), the Syrian Shu'ubi and Shi'ite poet.Other names might be added, but for our present purposethese are sufficient, since they serve to indicate how large aproportion (thirteen out of forty-four) of the most celebratedcontributors to " classical " Arabic literature were of Persianextraction. For fuller particulars of their works and characteristicsthe reader must refer to von Kremer, Brockelmann,and other writers on the Litteraturgeschichte and Culturgeschichteof the Arabs,