reign of
Sulaiman the Law-giver. There were, however, four authors of celebrity
who wrote both in Arabic and in Turkish. Ibn Kamal Pasha, the surname
of Mufti Shams-uddin Ahmad bin-Sulaiman, who died A.D. 1534, wrote on
history in Turkish, and on law in Arabic; the Mufti Abu Sa'ud acquired
great renown by his numerous Fetwas (legal decisions), approving of
the political institutions of Sulaiman; Ibrahim of Aleppo is the
author of the 'Molteka' (Confluence of Two Seas), which embodies the
essence of Muslim law, according to the Hanifi ritual; and lastly,
Birgeli, otherwise known as Mulla Muhammad Ibn Pir Ali ul-Birkali, was
equally great as a dogmatist and as a grammarian. He wrote in Arabic
'The Unique Pearl; or, The Art of Reading the Koran,' and died A.D.
1573. Special mention, too, must be made of Mulla Ahmad Bin Mustafa,
the celebrated Arabian, whom Haji-Khalfa always calls by the more
euphonious name of Abul-Khair (Father of Wisdom). This author is
worthy of notice, on account of the Arabic works he wrote on
biographical, historical, and especially encyclopaedic subjects. His
'Key of Felicity' will remain for ever the best encyclopaedia of
Arabian sciences, representing as it does their division among the
Arabs, with notices of the works of scholars in every branch of them
in a most compact and comprehensive manner. He died A.D. 1560.

The three most celebrated calligraphers of this century were
Hamdallah, who died A.D. 1518; Mir Ali, who died A.D. 1544; and
Muhammad Hussain Tabrizi, who died A.D. 1574. Their names are just as
celebrated for Thuluth and Talik writing as were formerly those of Ibn
Bawwab, of Ibn Hilal, and of Yakut are for Naskhi. In Egypt and Syria
the characters used were always more beautiful than those of
Andalusia, which survived in the Mugrib (North of Africa).

Here, perhaps, it may be stated that the art of Arabic writing came
into existence but a very short time before Muhammad. 'It was Abu Ali
bin Mukla who first took the present system of written characters from
the style of writing employed by the people of Kufa, and brought it
out under its actual form. He had, therefore, the merit of priority,
and it may be added that his handwriting was very elegant. But to Ibn
Al Bawwab pertains the honour of rendering the character more regular
and simple, and of clothing it in grace and beauty.' In other words,
Ibn Mukla was the first who changed the Kufic into the new Naskhi
character, which Ibn