Belles-lettres (_Adab_) and literary history are represented by a whole series of valuable works. Only a few of the most important can be mentioned here, and that in a very summary manner. The Persian Rúzbih, better known as ‘Abdulláh Ibnu ’l-Muqaffa‘, who was put to death by order of the Caliph Manṣúr, made several translations from the Pehleví or Middle-Persian literature into Arabic. We possess a specimen of his powers in the famous _Book of Kalíla and Dimna_, which is ultimately derived from the Sanscrit _Fables of Bidpai_. The Arabic version is one of the oldest prose works in that language, and is justly regarded as a model of elegant style, though it has not the pungent brevity which marks true Arabian eloquence. Ibn Qutayba, whose family came from Merv, held for a time the office of Cadi at Dínawar, and lived at Baghdád in the latter half of the ninth century. We have more than once cited his 'Book of General Knowledge' (_Kitábu ’l-Ma‘árif_)[651] and his 'Book of Poetry and Poets,' (_Kitábu ’l-Shi‘r wa-’l-Shu‘ará_), and may add here the _Adabu ’l-Kátib_, or 'Accomplishments of the Secretary,'[652] a manual of stylistic, dealing with orthography, orthoepy, lexicography, and the like; and the _‘Uyúnu ’l-Akhbár_, or 'Choice Histories,'[653] a work in ten chapters, each of which is devoted to a special theme such as Government, War, Nobility, Friendship, Women, &c. ‘Amr b. Baḥr al-Jáḥiẓ of Baṣra was a celebrated freethinker, and gave his name to a sect of the Mu‘tazilites (_al-Jáḥiẓiyya_).[654] He composed numerous books of an anecdotal and entertaining character. Ibn Khallikán singles out as his finest and most instructive works the _Kitábu ’l-Ḥayawán_ ('Book of Animals'), and the _Kitábu ’l-Bayán wa-’l-Tabyín_ ('Book of Eloquence and Exposition'), which is a popular treatise on rhetoric. It so happens--and the fact is not altogether fortuitous--that extremely valuable contributions to the literary history of the Arabs were made by two writers connected with the Umayyad House. Ibn ‘Abdi Rabbihi of Cordova, who was descended from an enfranchised slave of the Spanish Umayyad Caliph, Hishám b. ‘Abd al-Raḥmán (788-796 A.D.), has left us a miscellaneous anthology entitled _al-‘Iqd al-Faríd_, or 'The Unique Necklace,' which is divided into twenty-five books, each bearing the name of a different gem, and "contains something on every subject." Though Abu ’l-Faraj ‘Alí, the author of the _Kitábu ’l-Aghání_, was born at Iṣfahán, he was an Arab of the Arabs, being a member of the tribe Quraysh and a lineal descendant of Marwán, the last Umayyad Caliph. Coming to Baghdád, he bent all his energies to the study of Arabian antiquity, and towards the end of his life found a generous patron in al-Muhallabí, the Vizier of the Buwayhid sovereign, Mu‘izzu ’l-Dawla. His minor works are cast in the shade by his great 'Book of Songs.' This may be described as a history of all the Arabian poetry that had been set to music down to the author's time.