Many of these illustrious Arabian philosophers were also physicians. The great skill which the Arabs acquired in their knowledge of the uses and properties of medicinal herbs is traced by Humboldt to their geographical position. The southern part of Arabia " is characterized by the highly developed vital force pervading vegetation, by which an abundance of aromatic aura balsamic juices is yielded to man from various bene ficial and deleterious substances. The attention of the people must early have been directed to the natural products of their native soil, and those brought as articles of commerce from the accessible coasts of Malabar, Ceylon, and eastern Africa. Hence arose the wish to distinguish carefully from one another these precious articles of commerce, which were so important to medicine, manufacture, etc The science of medicine, when considered with reference to its scientific development, is essentially a creation of the Arabs, to whom the oldest, and, at the same time, one of the richest sources of knowledge—that of the Indian physicians—had been early opened. Chemical pharmacy (see ALCIIE3IY) was created by the Arabs, whilst to them are also due the first official prescriptions regarding the preparation and admixture of different remedial agents—the dispensing recipes of the present day. These were subsequently diffused over the south of Europe by the school of Salerno" (Humboldt's Cosmos, vol. ii. p. 581, Bohn'stranslation). Pharmacy and materia media& naturally led to botany and chemistry. For three centuries, the 8th to the 11th—a rich scientific culture prevailed. Schools of philosophy and medicine sprung up at Jondisahur, Bagdad, Ispahan, Firuzabad, Bokhara, Kuhl, Basra, Alexandria, Cordova, etc. In all departments of medical science a great advance was made, except in anatomy. The reason of this exception lies in the fact that the Koran forbids the dissection of bodies. The most famous writers on medicine are Aharun, Alkendi, Avicenna (q.v.), who wrote the Canon, of Medicine, for a long time the only hand book on the subject; Ali-ben-Abbas, Ishak-ben-Soleiman, Abulkasem, Averrhoes (q.v.), who wrote a complete system of medicine; Ali-ben-Isa, etc.
In mathematics, the Arabs made great advances by the introduction of the numerals and mode of notation now in use, of the sine instead of the chord (in trigonometry), and of a more extended application of algebra. Astronomy was zealously studied in the famous schools and observatories of Bagdad and Cordova. Alzahan wrote upon optics; Nassireddin translated the Elements of Euclid; Jeber-ben-Afla furnished a commentary on the trigonometry of Ptolemy, etc. The Almagest or System of Astronomy by Ptolemy, was translated into Arabic by Albazi and Sergius as early as 812. In the 10th c., Albaten observed the advance of the line of the apsides in the earth's orbit; Mohammed-ben Jeber-al-Batani, the obliquity of the ecliptic; Alpetragius wrote a theory of the planets; and Abul-ilassan-Ali on astronomical instruments.
Besides these advances in the solid branches of knowledge, the genius of the Arabs continually flowered into poetry. Numerous poets sprang up in all lands where the
children of the desert had carried their irresistible faith. Their verse, however, was not like the rude, simple minstrelsy of a purely patriarchal people; it gradually allied itself to the prevailing culture, and took, especially in the golden epoch of Arabian civiliza tion, a highly artistic form. Motenebbi, Abul-Ala, and others acquired a great reputa tion for their delicate idylls; Busiri, for his eulogy of Mohammed; Hamadilni, as the first to introduce novels in verse (of which he wrote 400 under the title of Makcimci/), a style of literature which was brought to perfection by Hariri; Azzeddin, for his ingenious allegorical poem, " The Birds and the Flowers." Besides these, a singularly wild and fantastic prose literature made its appearance, in which the craving for the wonderful and gorgeous, so characteristic of the restless, adventure-loving Arabs, was richly gratified. Romances and legendary tales abounded. The most famous of these are: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments (q.v.), fthe Exploits of Antar, The Exploits of the Cham pions, and The Exploits of the hero. In fact, with the exception of the drama, there was no sort of poetry which the Arabs did not attempt. The effect of this universality and richness in Arabic literature was, that it exercised a powerful influence on modern European poetry. • The tales of fays, charms, sorceries, and the wholegorgeous machinery of enchantment passed into the poetry of the west. During the middle ages of European history, several of the most popular and wide-spread books were of Arabic origin; such as, The Seven, iVise _Masters, and The Fables of Eidpai, though the Arabians themselves borrowed largely from the Persian and the Greek fables.
All this culture of the early ages of Mohammedanism presents a strong contrast to the ignorance which now prevails among the Arabs. The brutal fanaticism of the Turks nipped the blooming promise of the cast; sunk in stupid indolence, the peoples await in apathetic resignation their deliverance and return to higher modes of life. Literature furnishes now nothing worthy of notice. Learning spends itself principally in commen taries and scholia, in scholastic discussions on the subject-matter of dogmatics and juris prudence, and iu tedious grammatical disquisitions concerning the old Arabic speech, generally acute and subtle, but always unprofitable and unenlivening. The swift and mobile genius of the east has departed, and pedantic dullness has usurped its place. There are " Dryasdusts" even in the desert. A few modern writers have attempted, with more or less success, to imitate European forms of thought and sentiment. Of these may be mentioned Michael Sabbagh of Syria (La Colombe Ifessaggre, Arabic and French, Paris, 1805); the Sheik, Refaa of Cairo (The Broken Lyre, Paris, 1827; Manners and Customs of Oa Europeans, Cairo, 1834; Travels in France, Cairo, 1825); and Nasif-Effendi, of Beirut, who wrote the critical observations in De Sacy's edition of Hariri (Epistola Oritica, Leipsic, 1848).