ABSTRACT
IN this chapter I propose to speak of the principal writers of the period described in the last, leaving only the Persian poets, concerning at least three of whom there is a good deal to be said, for the concluding chapter of this volume. These writers may be divided into three classes, viz. ( 1 ) those of Persian birth who wrote exclusively or chiefly in Persian ; (2) those of Persian birth who wrote exclusively or chiefly in Arabic ; and (3) non-Persian authors who wrote in Arabic, but who, either because of some special connection with Persia or Persian topics, or because of their influence and importance in the world of Islam generally, cannot be altogether passed over even in a book treating primarily of the Literary History of Persia only. Practically, however, it will be more convenient to ignore this distinction, and to consider them together, class by class, according to the subject on which they wrote, without regard to the language which they employed, since at this time the Arabic language was still generally used in Persia as the language of culture, learning, and science, and only fell from this position with the fall of the Caliphate and the destruction of Baghdid, the metropolis of Islim.
