Masoudi himself was of the genuine Arab blood, a man of prominence descended from one of the comrades of Mohammed. He was born at Bagdad, but was, like many of his countrymen, a wanderer. After visiting all lands, he finally selected Egypt as his dwelling-place, and there died, probably in A.D. 957. Al Bukhari and other earlier travelers had collected all the tales of the Prophet, so Masoudi devoted himself to gathering other legends. From the vast bulk of these he made a thirty-volume historical work, most of which has disappeared. He then selected from this the material for a briefer work, and then, by a third process of distillation, gathered the best of his anecdotes into the "Golden Meadows." Of the more careful historians and genuine scientists who followed, Avicenna, from whose philosophical work we give an extract here, must assuredly be ranked the first. EARLY HISTORY AND SCIENCE THE BOOK OF GOLDEN MEADOWS AND OF MINES OF PRECIOUS STONES IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD, PITIFUL AND HELPFUL: Let us praise God, whose works we should study, and celebrate and glorify. May God grant his blessing and his peace to Mohammed, chief of the prophets, and to all his holy posterity. THE CALIPHATE OF ABU BEKR, THE TRUTHFUL Abu Bekr surpassed all the Mohammedans in his austerity, his frugality, and the simplicity of his life and outward appearance. During his rule he wore but a single linen garment and a cloak. In this simple dress he gave audience to the chiefs of the noblest Arab tribes and to the kings of Yemen. The latter appeared before him dressed in richest robes, covered with gold embroideries and wearing splendid crowns. But at sight of the Caliph, shamed by his mingling of pious humility and earnest gravity, they followed his example and renounced their gorgeous attire. THE CALIPHATE OF AL MANSUR, THE BUILDER OF BAGDAD Al Mansur, the third Caliph of the house of Abbas, succeeded his brother Es-Saffah ("'the blood-shedder") A.D. 754. He was a prince of great prudence, integrity, and discretion; but these good qualities were sullied by his extraordinary covetousness and occasional cruelty. He patronized poets and learned men, and was endowed with a remarkable memory. It is said that he could remember a poem after having only once heard it. He also had a slave who could commit to memory anything that he had heard twice, and a slave-girl who could do the same with what she had heard three times. One day there came to him a poet bringing a congratulatory ode, and Al Mansur said to him: "If it appears that anybody knows it by heart, or that any one composed it—that is to say, that it was brought here by some other person before thee—will give thee no recompense for it; but if no one knows it, we will give thee the weight in money of that upon which it is written."