oosing them with critical
skill; sometimes, however, he fused the several traditions into a
continuous narrative. A just estimate of the relative value of the
historians can only be reached by careful comparison in detail. This has
been essayed by Brunnow in his study on the Kharijites (Leiden, 1884),
in which the narrative of Mubarrad in the Kamil is compared with the
excerpts of Madaini given by Baladhuri and those of Abu Mikhnaf given by
Tabari. The conclusion reached is that Abu Mikhnaf and Madaini are both
well informed and impartial.

Among the contemporaries of Waqidi and Madaini were Ibn Khidash (d.
838), the historian of the family Muhallab, whose work was one of
Mubarrad's sources for the _History of the Kharijites_; Haitham ibn 'Adi
(d. 822), whose works, though now lost, are often cited; and Saif ibn
'Omar at-Tamimi, whose book on the revolt of the tribes under Abu-Bekr
and on the Mahommedan conquests was much used by Tabari. His narratives
are detailed and often tinged with romance, and he is certainly much
inferior to Waqidi in accuracy. Wellhausen has thoroughly examined the
work of Saif in _Skizzen und Vorarbeiten_, vi. Besides these are to be
mentioned Abu 'Ubaida (d. 825), who was celebrated as a philologist and
wrote several historical monographs that are often cited, and Azraqi,
whose excellent _History of Mecca_ was published after his death by his
grandson (d. 858). With these writers we pass into the 3rd century of
Islam. But we have still an important point to notice in the 2nd
century; for in it learned Persians began to take part in the creation
of Arabic historical literature. Ibn Muqaffa' translated the great _Book
of Persian Kings_, and others followed his example. Tabari and his
contemporaries, senior and junior, such as Ibn Qutaiba, Ya'qubi,
Dinawari, preserve to us a good part of the information about Persian
history made known through such translations.[4] But even more important
than the knowledge conveyed by these works was their influence on
literary style and composition. Half a century later began versions from
the Greek either direct or through the Syriac. The pieces translated
were mostly philosophical; but the Arabs also learned something, however
superficially, of ancient history.

The 3rd century (816-913) was far more productive than the 2nd. Abu
'Ubaida was succeeded by Ibn al-A'rabi (d. 846), who in like manner was
chiefly famous as a philologist, and who wrote about ancien