. This very likely formed the
nucleus of a book which bore the name of that sheik and was much read in
the 3rd century from the Flight. It seems to be lost now. But in the 2nd
century (719-816) real books began to be composed. The materials were
supplied in the first place by oral tradition, in the second by the
_dictata_ of older scholars, and finally by various kinds of documents,
such as treaties, letters, collections of poetry and genealogical lists.
Genealogical studies had become necessary through Omar's system of
assigning state pensions to certain classes of persons according to
their kinship with the Prophet, or their deserts during his lifetime.
This subject received much attention even in the 1st century, but books
about it were first written in the 2nd, the most famous being those of
Ibn al-Kalbi (d. 763), of his son Hisham (d. 819), and of Al-Sharqi ibn
al-Qutami. Genealogy, which often called for elucidations, led on to
history. Baladhuri's excellent _Ansab al-Ashraf_ (Genealogies of the
Nobles) is a history of the Arabs on a genealogical plan.

The oldest extant history is the biography of the Prophet by Ibn Ishaq
(d. 767). This work is generally trustworthy. Mahomet's life before he
appeared as a prophet and the story of his ancestors are indeed mixed
with many fables illustrated by spurious verses. But in Ibn Ishaq's day
these fables were generally accepted as history--for many of them had
been first related by contemporaries of Mahomet--and no one certainly
thought it blameworthy to put pious verses in the mouth of the Prophet's
forefathers, though, according to the _Fihrist_ (p. 92), Ibn Ishaq was
duped by others with regard to the poems he quotes. The original work of
Ibn Ishaq seems to be lost. That which we possess is an edition of it by
Ibn Hisham (d. 834) with additions and omissions (text ed. by F.
Wustenfeld, Gottingen, 1858-1860; German translation by Weil, Stuttgart,
1864).

The _Life_ of the Prophet by Ibn Oqba (d. 758), based on the statements
of two very trustworthy men, 'Urwa ibn az-Zubair (d. 713) and Az-zuhri
(d. 742), was still much read in Syria in the 14th century. Fragments of
this have been edited by E. Sachau, Berlin, 1904. We fortunately possess
the _Book of the Campaigns_ of the Prophet by al-Waqidi (d. 822) and the
important _Book of Classes_ of his disciple Ibn Sa'd (q.v.). Waqidi had
much more copious materials than Ibn Ishaq, but gives way much more to a
popular and sometim