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And our predisposition is supported by the circumstance that the history of the dynasty as given in a manual by the same Ibn Kotaiba and which is styled Kitab al Maarif, brief as it is, betrays as in the instance of the reign of Peroz, all through such an harmony with Eutychius that here two independent authors must necessarily have drawn upon one and the same original; and that original source can be no other than the production of Ibn Mukaffa.
It was composed doubtless after the book of Umar ibn Farrukhan, for Qutaiba flourished at the close of the reign of Mamun and his literary activities could be referred to the ninth century. Qutaiba undoubtedly interested himself in Persian literary materials. Hence it can be concluded that his Kitab al Mahasin was not foreign to the materials and in form could be the first imitation of Farrukhan.
Under the title of Kitab al Mahasin wal Azdad we likewise possess a work ascribed to Jahiz. Both these books evidently go to a common origin. It is quite possible that antithesis was originally not excluded from these Kutub al-Mahasin, from which were developed a special species of educative treatises, those on "good qualities and their opposites."
And among those who assert that the Magians are Ahal Kitab are Ali Ibn Talib and Khuzayfa, may God be pleased on these two, and Said Bin Al Musib and Karadah and Abu Thaur and the whole of the sect of the Zahurites. And we have set out the arguments of the validity of this statement in our book entitled the Isal in the chapters on Jehad, Ceremonial Slaughter, and Nikah.
In the midst of them, an-Nadhin has also mentioned the grandsons of Naubakht. Not one of them wrote any Kitab al Mahasin which appears, therefore, to be the independent work of Umar ibn Farrukhan. This book, further, could not have been of a scientific astronomical, or mathematical nature as is obvious from its subject-matter which related to good manners and conduct.
Besides this place in the Fihrist, Umar ibn Farrukhan of Tabaristan has been mentioned in two other places. Here he is mentioned as the annotator of Ptolemy as translated by Batrik Yahuya ibn al Batrik and as the author of two books, one of astronomical contents and the other entitled Kitab al Mahasin, that is the book of good qualities and manners. This latter book demands a few lines from us.
Consequently, in the Terminal Essay to the Arabian Nights, we find him recommending the study of an Arabic work, Kitab al Bah not only to the anthropologist but also to the million. He says, "The conscientious study would be useful to humanity by teaching the use and unteaching the abuse of the Malthusian system, whereby the family is duly limited to the necessities of society."
The names in hyphens are those given in a paper on the nautical instrument of the Arabs by Jas. The learned secretary appears not to have heard the legend of Shaykh Majid, for he alludes to the "Majidi Kitab" or Oriental Ephemeris, without any explanation. The western points are named like the eastern. North-east, for instance is Ayyuk el Matlai; north-west, Ayyuk el Maghibi.
Thereupon Tabaristan came into the power of the Tahirides, the nominal governors of the Khalif in Khorasan. Our authorities are Beladhori 134, 14; Masudi 7, 137; Kitab ol Oyun 399, 6; Yaqut 3, 284, 4. 506, 10; Abulfida 2, 212, 2. The Bavend dynasty is a continuation of the Masmughans.
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