Table of Contents

 

Introductory material

Introductory material of Book One, Kitab al 'Ibar

Preliminary Remarks

Chapter I

Human civilization in general

Chapter II

Bedouin civilization, savage nations and tribes and their conditions of life, including several basic and explanatory statements

Chapter III

On dynasties, royal authority, the caliphate, government ranks, and all that goes with these things. The chapter contains basic and supplementary propositions

Chapter IV

Countries and cities, and all other forms of sedentary civilization. The conditions occurring there. Primary and secondary considerations in this connection

Chapter V

On the various aspects of making a living, such as profit and the crafts. The conditions that occur in this connection. A number of problems are connected with this subject

1

The real meaning and explanation of sustenance and profit. Profit is the value realized from human labor

2

The various ways, means, and methods of making a living

3

Being a servant is not a natural way of making a living

4

Trying to make money from buried and other treasures is not a natural way of making a living

5

Ranks are useful in securing property

6

Happiness and profit are achieved mostly by people who are obsequious and use flattery. Such character disposition is one of the reasons for happiness

7

Persons who are in charge of offices dealing with religious matters, such as judge, mufti, teacher, prayer leader, preacher, muezzin, and the like, are not as a rule very wealthy

8

Agriculture is a way of making a living for weak people and Bedouins in search of subsistence

9

The meaning, methods, and different kinds of commerce

10

The transportation of goods by merchants

11

Hoarding

12

Continued low prices are harmful to merchants who have to trade at low prices

13

The kind of people who should practice commerce, and those who should not

14

The character qualities of merchants are inferior to those of leading personalities and remote from manliness

15

The crafts require teachers

16

The crafts are perfected only if there exists a large and perfect sedentary civilization

17

The crafts are firmly rooted in a city only when sedentary culture is firmly rooted and of long duration

18

Crafts can improve and increase only when many people demand them

19

The crafts recede from cities that are close to ruin

20

The Arabs, of all people, are least familiar with crafts

21

The person who has gained the habit of a particular craft is rarely able afterwards to master another

22

A brief enumeration of the basic crafts

23

The craft of agriculture

24

The craft of architecture

25

The craft of carpentry

26

The craft of weaving and tailoring

27

The craft of midwifery

28

The craft of medicine, The craft of medicine is needed in settled areas and cities but not in the desert

29

Calligraphy, the art of writing, is one of the human crafts

30

The craft of book production

31

The craft of singing and music

32

The crafts, especially writing and calculation, give intelligence to the person who practices them

Chapter VI

The various kinds of sciences. The methods of instruction. The conditions that obtain in these connections. The chapter includes a prefatory discussion and appendices

Concluding Remarks

Selected Bibliography, Walter J. Fischel