t about the liberality
of the Barmekides was only so much exaggeration and invention of
leaf-scribblers, he replied: 'Of you, O vizier, the leaf-scribblers
will certainly report nothing and invent nothing.' There are many other
anecdotes and stories told about him. Being asked how long he would
continue to praise some and satirize others, he replied: 'As long as
the virtuous do good and the wicked do evil, but God forbid that I
should be as the scorpion which stingeth equally the prophet and the
infidel.' He had a most wonderful memory, which he applied, however,
not to the preservation of interpretations and their vouchers, but to
that of anecdotes, drolleries, and witty sayings, wherefore his name
has been perpetuated as that of a joker. He died A.D. 896.

Mention must also be made of Abdullah bin Muslim bin Kutaiba, who was
a philologist and grammarian of eminent talent, and noted for the
correctness of his information. He was the author of many works, such
as 'The Book of Facts,' 'The Writer's Guide,' 'Notices on the Poets,'
and 'A Treatise on Horses,' and others, all of which were more or less
celebrated in their time. He was born A.D. 828, and died, some say, in
A.D. 884, others in A.D. 908.

Ibn Duraid, whose many other names are given by Ibn Khallikan, is
described by that author as 'the most accomplished scholar, the ablest
philologer, and the first poet of the age.' Masudi and other men of
learning also speak of him in the highest terms. He composed several
works on natural history, and produced also a complete Dictionary of
this kind, after the model of the books 'Al-A'in' and 'Al-Jim,' the
two letters of the alphabet with which Khalil, the grammarian, and Abu
Amr as Shaibani respectively began their works. Ibn Duraid died at
Baghdad A.D. 933. The celebrated Motazelite divine Abu Haslim Abd-as
Salam Al-Jubbai died the same day, and this caused the people to say
that 'To-day philology and dogmatic theology have ceased to exist.'

In the East, by philosophy not only logic and metaphysics are meant,
but also all ethical, political, mathematical, and medical sciences.
Indeed, it may be said that nearly all learned men were in those days
called philosophers, a term which included mathematicians,
astronomers, physicians, encyclopaedists and others.

From the mass of Arab authors all laying claim to the title of
philosopher, it is perhaps an invidious task to select a few only, and
even those selected by one per