not descending--as in the 'Nights'--to the common
expressions of ordinary speech. In this it resembles the 'Makamat' of
Hariri, though much less artificial and more enjoyable. It is the Arabic
romance of chivalry, and may not have been without influence on the
spread of the romance of mediaeval Europe. For though its central figure
is a hero of pre-Islamic times, it was put together by the learned
philologian, al-'Asmai, in the days of Harun the Just, at the time when
Charlemagne was ruling in Europe.

There exist in Arabic literature very few romances of the length of
'Antar.' Though the Arab delights to hear and to recount tales, his
tales are generally short and pithy. It is in this shorter form that he
delights to inculcate principles of morality and norms of character. He
is most adroit at repartee and at pungent replies. He has a way of
stating principles which delights while it instructs. The anecdote is at
home in the East: many a favor is gained, many a punishment averted, by
a quick answer and a felicitously turned expression. Such anecdotes
exist as popular traditions in very large numbers; and he receives much
consideration whose mind is well stocked with them. Collections of
anecdotes have been put to writing from time to time. Those dealing with
the early history of the caliphate are among the best prose that the
Arabs have produced. For pure prose was never greatly cultivated. The
literature dealing with their own history, or with the geography and
culture of the nations with which they came in contact, is very large,
and as a record of facts is most important. Ibn Hisham (died 767),
Wakidi (died 822), Tabari (838-923), Masudi (died 957), Ibn Athir (died
1233), Ibn Khaldun (died 1406), Makrisi (died 1442), Suyuti (died 1505),
and Makkari (died 1631), are only a few of those who have given us large
and comprehensive histories. Al-Biruni (died 1038), writer,
mathematician, and traveler, has left us an account of the India of his
day which has earned for him the title "Herodotus of India," though for
careful observation and faithful presentation he stands far above the
writer with whose name he is adorned. But nearly all of these historical
writers are mere chronologists, dry and wearisome to the general reader.
It is only in the Preface, or 'Exordium,' often the most elaborate part
of the whole book viewed from a rhetorical standpoint, that they attempt
to rise above mere incidents and strive after literary