A literary history of Persia

THE FIHRIST 387Arithmeticians, Musicians, Accountants, and Astronomers,and the makers of [scientific] instruments, and theMechanics and Engineers.Section Hi. On the origins of Medicine, with accounts of thephysicians amongst the Ancients and the Moderns, andthe names of their books, with their versions andcommentaries.Eighth Discourse, in three sections, on Legends, Fables, Charms,Magic, and Conjuring.Section i. Account of the Story-tellers, Saga-men and Artists,and the names of the books composed on Legends andFables.Section ii. Account of the Charm-mongers, Conjurors andMagicians, and the names of their books.Section Hi. On books composed on divers other topics,whereof the authors and compilers are unknown.Ninth Discourse, in two sections, on Sects and Creeds.Section i.Describing the Sects of the Harranian Chaldneans,called in our time Sabaeans, and the Sects of Dualists,whether Manichaeans, Bardesanians, Khurramis, Marcionites,Mazdakites, and others, and the names of theirbooks.Section ii.Describing sundry strange and curious sects, suchas those of India and China, and others of other likepeoples.Tenth Discourse, containing accounts of the Alchemists and seekersafter the Philosopher's Stone amongst the Ancient-and ModernPhilosophers, and the names of their books.Besides these three books there is another and earlier work,the Kitdbul-Ma^rif of Ibn Qutayba (t circ. A.D. 889), ofwhich the text was published at Gottingen by the indefatigableWustenfeld in 1850, which gives us a good idea of thehistorical and biographical knowledge deemed necessaryfor allwho had any pretensions to be fairly well read. In this bookthe author treats of the following subjects: the Creation(pp. 6-10) ;Sacred History, giving a brief account of thePatriarchs and Prophets (including not only those mentionedin the Old Testament, but others, such as Hud and Salih,mentioned in the Qur'dn),and Christ (pp. 10-27) jProfane