A literary history of Persia

'368 DECLINE OF THE CALIPHATECarmathians, who about A.D. 971 even allied themselveswith the 'Abbasids. 1Turning once more to the world of literature and science,we may note the following events. In A.D. 950 died AbuNasr al-FdrabL the greatest philosopher of Islam'Literary mani-. ,.. . .Afestations of this before Avicenna, and, curiously } enough, of Turkishperiod.origin. 2 About the same time al-Istakhrithegeographer produced his recension ofa]^B^Hftir s work, and thePersian sea-captain Buzurg b. Shahriydr of Rdmhurmuz wrotein Arabic, from his own recollections and information derivedfrom other travellers,his curious work on the Marueh of India.The death of Rudagf, generally regarded as the father ofPersian poetry, and the birth of another Persian poet, Kisd'f,also happened at this time. About A.D. 956 died the greathistorian al-Mas'udi, of Arab extraction and alleged Mu'taziliteleanings, of whose voluminous writingsAl-Mas'udi. , "I? .the Kitabu t-lanbin wa l-lshrafis accessible tostudents in the original Arabic, and the better known Muruju'dh-Dhahab both in the original and in the French translationof MM. Barbier de Meynardand Pavet de Courteille.Narshakhf, the historian of Bukhdrd (preserved to us onlyin the later Persian translation of al-Qubawf made aboutA.D. 1128) died in 'A.D. 959. Gushyar,the astronomer otGflan, flourished about the same time ;as did also theChristian physician'Isi b. *AH, who compiled a Biographyof Oculists. In A.D. 961 was born Abu Mansiir 'Abdu'l-Malik ath-Tha'alibf, the author of the Yatimatud-Dahrcited above, as well as of many other important1Persia^ 'wl'ion an