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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
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23 |
The craft of agriculture
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24 |
The craft of architecture
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25 |
The craft of carpentry |
26 |
The craft of weaving and tailoring
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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
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31 |
The craft of singing and music |
32 |
The crafts, especially writing and
calculation, give intelligence
to the person who practices them |
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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
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