The Arts of Persia & Other Countries of Islam

FOOTNOTES

[1] "Literary History of Persia," by Edward G. Browne, M.A., M.B., Vol. I, page 186.

[2] Translated into French by Victor Chauvin under the title of "Essai sur l'Histoire de l'Islamisme" (Leyden and Paris, 1879).

[3] "Righteousness is not that ye turn your faces to the East and to the West, but righteousness is this: Whosoever believeth in God, and the last day, and the angels, and the book, and the prophets; and whoso, for the love of God, giveth of his wealth unto his kindred, and unto orphans, and the poor, and the traveller, and to those who crave alms, and for the release of the captives; and whoso observeth prayer and giveth in charity; and those who, when they have covenanted, fulfil their covenant; and who are patient in adversity and hardship, and in times of violence: these are the righteous and they that fear the Lord."—Qur'an, Sura II.

[4] The treaty concluded by Habib b. Maslama with the people of Dabil in Armenia ran as follows: "In the name of God the merciful, the clement. This is a letter from Habib b. Maslama to the people of Dabil, Christians, Magians, and Jews, such of them as are present and such of them as are absent. Verily I guarantee the safety of your lives, properties, churches, temples and city walls; ye are secure, and it is incumbent upon us faithfully to observe this treaty so long as you observe it and pay the poll-tax and the land-tax. God is witness, and he sufficeth as a witness."—Qur'an, V. 104. Concerning the acceptance of the Poll-Tax from Zoroastrians, as well as from Jews and Christians. A. von Kremer's "Kulturgeschichte d. Orients," Vol. I, page 59.

[5] "Thus it is by no means correct to imply that the two or three centuries immediately following the Muhammadan conquest of Persia were a blank page in the intellectual life of its people. It is, on the contrary, a period of immense and unique interest, of fusion between the old and the new, of transformation of forms and transmigration of ideas, but in no wise of stagnation or death. Politically, it is true, Persia ceased for a while to enjoy a separate national existence, being merged in that great Muhammadan Empire which stretched from Gibraltar to the Jaxartes; but in the intellectual domain she soon began to assert the supremacy to which the ability and subtlety of her people entitled her. Even the forms of State organization were largely adapted from Persian models."—Al-Fakhri (ed. Ahlwardt, page 101), on the organization of the Diwans or Government offices.

"In the finance department not only was the Persian system adopted, but the Persian language and notation continued to be used till the time of al-Hajjaj b. Yusuf (about A.D. 700)."—Edward G. Browne, "Literary History of Persia", Vol. I, page 204.

[6] "The ascendancy of the Persians over the Arabs, that is to say of the conquered over the victors, had already for a long while been in course of preparation; it became complete when the Abbasids, who owed their elevation to the Persians, ascended the throne (A.D. 749). The most distinguished personages at court were consequently Persians. The famous Barmecides were descended from a Persian noble who had been superintendent of the Fire Temple at Balkh. Afshin, the all-powerful favorite of the Caliph al-Mutasim, was a scion of the Princes of Usrushna in Transoxiana."—Dozy, "Histoire de l'Islamisme".

[7] "With the rise of Persian influence, there opened an era of culture, toleration, and scientific research. The practice of oral tradition was also giving place to recorded statement and historical narrative,—a change hastened by the scholarly tendencies introduced from the East."—Sir William Muir, on the rise of the Abbasid Dynasty.

[8] "Persian influence increased at the court of the Caliphs, and reached its zenith under al-Hadi, Harunu'r-Rashid, and al-Mamun. Most of the ministers of the last were Persians or of Persian extraction. In Baghdad, Persian fashions continued to enjoy an increasing ascendancy. The old Persian festivals of the Nawruz, Mihrgan, and Ram were celebrated. Persian raiment was the official court dress, and the tall, black, conical Persian hats were already prescribed as official by the second Abbasid Caliph (in A.H. 153: A.D. 770). At the court the customs of the Sassanian Kings were imitated, and garments decorated with golden inscriptions were introduced, which it was the exclusive privilege of the ruler to bestow. A coin of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil shows us this Prince actually clothed in true Persian fashions".—Von Kremer, Streitzuge, page 32.

[9] "Il prit un si grand goÛt pour la philosophie qu'il se proposa d'Étudier celle qui Était enseignÉe chez les Perses et celle qui prÉvalait chez les Indiens. Lorsque l'empÉreur Gordien se prÉpara À faire son expÉdition contre les Perses, Plotin, alors ÂgÉ de trente-neuf ans, se mit À la suite de l'armÉe. Il avait passÉ dix annÉes entiÈres prÈs d'Ammonius. Gordien ayant ÉtÉ tuÉ en Mesopotamie, Plotin eÛt assez de peine À se sauver À Antioche."—Porphyry on Plotinus: Translation of the Enneads of Plotinus (Bouillet; Paris, 1857).

[10] "Religious Systems of the World" (Swan Sonnenschein, 1892).

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