LITERATURE OF THE ARABS. 69 



fertility of their genius, that they are said to have 

 produced more works in this department than all 

 other nations united. Owing to the distractions of 

 the caliphate, the Arabian muses seem to have be-en 

 silent till the reign of the Abbassides. It was in 

 the courts of Haroun and Almamoim, and more 

 especially under ^he Ommiades of Sp^in, that poetry 

 arrived at its highest pitch of splendour. At this 

 era flourished that bright assemblage of bards, 

 chivalrous lovers, and romantic princesses, whom 

 the oriental writers compare to Anacreon, Pindar, 

 and Sappho. Among their most eminent improvers 

 of versification were Motanabbi of Cufa, styled the 

 Prince of Poets, and Khalil ibn Ahmed, who first 

 subjected it to regular rules. 



Several of the latter caliphs of Bagdad cultivated 

 this elegant art with the greatest ardour ; as did the 

 sultans of Mosul, Aleppo, Seville, and Cordova. 

 Even ladies entered the lists as votaries of the muse. 

 Valadata, daughter of the Caliph of Cordova, en- 

 dowed with equal beauty and genius, was considered 

 as the Arabian Sappho. Aysha, another princess at 

 the same court, was scarcely less distinguished ; 

 her orations and poems were frequently read in the 

 royal academy of that city with the greatest ap- 

 plause. Labana, also a native of that learned capi- 

 tal, not only excelled as a poetess, but was deeply 

 skilled in philosophy and arithmetic, and held an 

 office not often enjoyed by females, that of private 

 secretary to the Caliph Hakem. Seville could boast 

 of Safia, whose poetry and beautiful penmanship 

 were the subject of equal admiration; of Algasania, 

 who wrote verses in praise of the caliphs ; and of 

 Maria, who has been honoured with the title of the 

 Arabian Corinna. So great was the number of poets, 

 that Abul Abbas, son of the Caliph IMotassem, wrote 

 an abridgment of Iheir lives, which contains notices 

 of 130. Casiri has further recorded the fragment of 

 a work entitled the " Theatre of the Poets," which 



