From House of Wisdom to the

European Renaissance: The

Enduring Legacy of the Golden
Age of Islam. (Volume.1.)

“The Historical Settings Behind the

Making of the Golden Age of Islam:
Tales from the House of Wisdom, the
Arabization of Knowledge & the
Translation Movement, Stories from
the Abbasid Baghdad, Muslim Spain,
Fatimid Egypt & Muslim Sicily, and An
Insight into the Persian Contributions in
the Making of Islamic Civilization.”

By Obaidur Rahman
1
(The 1st installment of the Golden Age of Islam Trilogy.)
From House of Wisdom to the European Renaissance: The Enduring
Legacy of the Golden Age of Islam. (Volume.1.)

“The Historical Settings Behind the Making of the Golden Age of

Islam: Tales from the House of Wisdom, Arabization of Knowledge &
the Translation Movement, Stories from the Abbasid Baghdad,
Muslim Spain, Fatimid Egypt & Muslim Sicily, and An Insight into
the Persian Contributions in the Making of Islamic Civilization.”

First Edition: 2022.

© OBAIDUR RAHMAN

All Rights Reserved.

No portion of this work may be reproduced by any process without

the author’s written permission.

ISBN: 978-984-35-2426-3

Cover Art: “Scholars at work”, Work in the observatorium of Taqi

al-Din, late-16th century. Miniature from the Shahinshah-nama
(History of the King of Kings), an epic poem by ‘Ala ad-Din Mansur-
Shirazi, written in honor of Sultan Murad III (r. 1574-95).

Publisher: A Sleek Publication, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Author Contact: write.to.obaid@gmail.com

Price: BDT 3,500/-, US $ 50, £ 40.

A SLEEK PUBLICATION

2
Books by the Author:-

1) - The Mystic Inferno.

2) - The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life in the Universe.

3) - Knowledge: The Collective Writings of Obaidur Rahman.

4) - The Mystery of Time Travel.

5) -“From House of Wisdom to the European Renaissance: The Enduring Legacy of

the Golden Age of Islam. (Volume.1),

“The Historical Settings Behind the Making of the Golden Age of Islam: Tales
from the House of Wisdom, the Arabization of Knowledge & the Translation
Movement, Stories from the Abbasid Baghdad, Muslim Spain, Fatimid Egypt &
Muslim Sicily, and An Insight into the Persian Contributions in the Making of
Islamic Civilization.”

6) - “From House of Wisdom to the European Renaissance: The Enduring Legacy of

the Golden Age of Islam. (Volume.2),

“The Science and Scholarship of the Golden Age of Islam: A Brief Introduction to
Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering & Technology,
Medicine, Philosophy, Geography, and Arts & Architecture of Medieval Islam.”

7) -“From House of Wisdom to the European Renaissance: The Enduring Legacy of

the Golden Age of Islam. (Volume.3),

“An Insight into the Islamic World’s Pivotal role in the Making of European
Renaissance and Behind the Fall of the Golden Age of Islam, and Understanding
What Went Wrong in the Islamic World’s Pursuit for the Scientific and Scholarly
Excellence in the post-Medieval World.”

Author/Book Link: https://independent.academia.edu/ObaidurRahman26

-----

3
From House of Wisdom to
the European
Renaissance: The
Enduring Legacy of the
Golden Age of Islam.
(Volume.1.)

“The Historical Settings Behind the Making of the

Golden Age of Islam: Tales from the House of
Wisdom, the Arabization of Knowledge & the
Translation Movement, Stories from the Abbasid
Baghdad, Muslim Spain, Fatimid Egypt &
Muslim Sicily, and An Insight into the Persian
Contributions in the Making of Islamic
Civilization.”

By Obaidur Rahman
(The 1st installment of the Golden Age of Islam Trilogy.)

4
 Dedication:

For my Father, Mother and Sister…

5
 Table of Contents
- Prologue ........................................................................................... 1

***

Chapter-1:- (The Rise of Islam & the Beginning of

the Abbasids.)

- The Rise of Islam ............................................................................. 5

- The Rule of the Caliphate ............................................................... 10

- The Founding of the Abbasid Caliphate .......................................... 21

- From Islamic Conquests, onto the Golden Age of Islam, which

Pioneered the European Renaissance ................................................ 37

***

Chapter-2:- (A Brief History of the “Bayt al-

Hikma” / The “House of Wisdom”.)

- “Bayt al-Hikma” / The “House of Wisdom” ................................... 47

- The Sasanid-Persian Legacy of the “Bayt al-Hikma”/The “House of

Wisdom” .......................................................................................... 54

- More on the “House of Wisdom”…….. .......................................... 62

***

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 Chapter-3:- (The Arabization of Knowledge & the
Echoes of the Past.)

- The Road to Enlightened Crescent .................................................. 73

 The Truth of the Sources ....................................................... 74

- Of Arabization and the Pre-Islamic Middle Eastern Kingdoms ....... 86

 (More on the) Arabization of Knowledge & the Truth of the

Sources ................................................................................. 96

 Behind the Veil of “Arabic” .................................................. 97

 One Empire, Many Lands and the Golden Age .................... 102

- The Legacy of Baghdad & Mesopotamia ...................................... 104

 More on this Legacy of Mesopotamia (and Egypt) .............. 107

- The Truth about the Hellenic Legacy ............................................ 112

- The Legacy of Gundeshapur & the Sabians of Harran .................. 120

- From Ancients to Arabic .............................................................. 122

 To Be Arabic or Not To Be ................................................. 127

 The Truth is......................................................................... 133

***

7
 Chapter-4:- (The Translation Movement: A Brief
Introduction.)

- A Caliph & His Dream ................................................................. 137

- The Learned Caliph ...................................................................... 141

- The Novel Path to Numbers.......................................................... 150

 From Al-Khwarizmi to the Indo-Arabic Numeral System….151

 From the Indo-Arabic

Numeral System to the Story of Zero……………………….154

- The Translation Movement ........................................................... 156

Part-A ....................................................................................... 156

 Translation during the Umayyad Times ............................... 168

Part-B ....................................................................................... 177

 The Mark of Paper .............................................................. 178

 Translation & the Penning of Original Works ...................... 179

 The Many Roads to Knowledge .......................................... 181

Part-C ....................................................................................... 183

 The Greek Side of the Story ................................................ 183

Part-D ....................................................................................... 195

 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants .................................... 195

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 Part-E ....................................................................................... 199

- Translation Works…From Arabic into Persian ............................. 204

- The Band of Translators ............................................................... 207

 Hunayn Ibn Ishaq ................................................................ 208

 Ishaq ibn Hunayn (Son of Hunayn Ibn Ishaq) ...................... 217

 Thabit ibn Qurra .................................................................. 219

 Banu Musa .......................................................................... 225

 Al-Kindi.............................................................................. 229

 The Nawbakht Family ......................................................... 233

 Qusta ibn Luqa .................................................................... 233

 Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari ....................................... 235

 Ibn al-Muqaffa .................................................................... 236

 Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn Matar ............................................. 237

 Yahya al-Bitriq & Ibn Na’ima al-Himsi............................... 239

 Habash al-Hasib .................................................................. 240

 Thiyufil ibn Thuma ............................................................. 240

***

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 Chapter-5:- (A Glimpse at Baghdad, the Splendor
City: Behind the Scenes of Abbasid Capital.)

- Baghdad and her Caliphs .............................................................. 243

- The Triumph of Baghdad ............................................................. 247

 Made in Baghdad & Beyond ............................................... 252

 From “Saqq” to Checks ....................................................... 259

- The Financial Finesse, the Industrial and Agricultural Marvels, Life

& Literacy, and the Thriving Trade & Economy of the Time .......... 263

 The Financial Finesse .......................................................... 263

 The Signs of Industry .......................................................... 265

 The Agricultural Marvels

& the Agro-Economy of the Times ...................................... 267

 Life & Literacy ................................................................... 272

 The Thriving Trade & the Economy of the Time ................. 274

- The Making of Paper, the Nizamiyyah Schools & the First Degree
Granting Universities ...................................................................... 286

- The Roles of the Sufis, Polymaths & Nestorians ........................... 301

 The Sufis ............................................................................. 301

 The Polymaths .................................................................... 303

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  The Nestorians .................................................................... 306

- The Legacy of Gundeshapur & the Bukhtishu Family................... 308

- Of Vizier & the Barmakid Family ................................................ 317

 Vizier .................................................................................. 317

 The Rise & Fall of the Barmakid Family ............................. 322

- Celebrating Knowledge, Everywhere…Until the Very End .......... 329

- From Wealth to Wisdom:

The Grand Sponsorship of Scholarship…………………………334

- The Fall of Baghdad ..................................................................... 338

 The Massacre of a People .................................................... 339

***

Chapter-6:- (Visions from Al-Andalus: The Jewel

of Medieval Europe.)

- Of Al-Andalusia ........................................................................... 351

- More from Al-Andalus: The Tales of Muslim Spain ..................... 354

 The Path to Al-Andalus ....................................................... 367

 The Jewish Role in the

Islamic Conquest of Iberian Peninsula ................................. 374

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  Muslims, Jews, Christians & the Berber Connection ........... 395

- Al-Andalus- The New Beginning (Part-A).................................... 400

- Al-Andalus- The New Beginning (Part-B) .................................... 407

 Córdoba .............................................................................. 411

 The Great Mosque of Córdoba ............................................ 413

 Córdoba (cont.) ................................................................... 416

 The Culture of Learning of Al-Andalus ............................... 428

 The Arabic Linguistic Legacy in Muslim Spain+Iberian

Peninsula ............................................................................. 440

 The Agriculture of Al-Andalus ............................................ 448

 The Culture of Religious Tolerance, Economy & Commerce of

Al-Andalus and the Tale of one Ziryab ................................ 455

 Ziryab ................................................................................. 464

- The Demise of Al-Andalus ........................................................... 474

***

Chapter-7:- (A Glance at Muslim Sicily & Fatimid

Egypt.)

- Steps to Sicily .............................................................................. 487

- The Dynasties of Muslim Sicily.................................................... 488

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- Life in Muslim Sicily ................................................................... 492

- The Coming of the Normans,

& the Rule of Norman King Roger II .............................................. 503

 The Tale of the Arabo-Norman Culture ............................... 504

- Facts on Fatimid Egypt ................................................................. 513

 Ibn al-Haitham .................................................................... 516

 Life in Fatimid Egypt .......................................................... 524

 The Assassins ...................................................................... 527

***

Chapter-8:- (The Persian Legacy of the Golden

Age of Islam.)

- The Persian Legacy, (Part-1) ........................................................ 540

 The Persian Legacy in the Making of Greek Knowledge ..... 542

 Few Words on the Arab Invasion/Conquest of Mesopotamia,

Persia & North Africa ......................................................... 557

 The Lost Persian Knowledge ............................................... 574

 But, the Culture of Persian Scholarship Survives ................. 579

- The Persian Legacy, (Part-2) ........................................................ 595

***
13
 Chapter-9:- (Conclusion: Few Words on the Era
beyond the Peninsula.)

- The Few Words ............................................................................ 671

(Part-1)................................................................................ 671

(Part-2)................................................................................ 680

 Ibn Khaldun on Arabs ......................................................... 700

 The Difference between Mesopotamia, (for example), and the

then olden Saudi Arabia centric Arabian Peninsula is .......... 721

 Mathematics, Time & Calendar ........................................... 723

 Astrology & Astronomy ...................................................... 726

 Maps ................................................................................... 728

 Wheels & Chariots .............................................................. 728

 Agriculture, Irrigation & Plough.......................................... 729

 The Invention of Sailboat .................................................... 731

 Urbanization and the Art of Measurements .......................... 731

 Writing ................................................................................ 732

- At the End of the Day, the Truth about

The Golden Age of Islam is……………………….. .................. 737

- Epilogue: The Legacy……………………….. .............................. 781

14
- Glossary……………………….. .................................................. 806

- Bibliography……………………….. ............................................ 817

*****

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