From the point of view of poetry also his work is unique, as from his
phenomenal memory and readings, he would go on quoting from one
Arabic poet to another. His critical remarks on the inherent merit of
some verses reflect a poet's genius in him and clearly attest to his insight
into Poetics.
Another point, which must be borne in mind while reading Beruni, is
that he is primarily a historiographer than a mere chronicler. History is
made by wrong or right decisions, and all of us are liable to find ourselves
tripping into the mire of decline, if we fail to pay heed to the lessons of
history. The Qur'an has, for this reason all the time, emphasized this
fact through Si4rahs like al-Nahl, al-Isra', Yusuf, al-Kahaf, and several
other a'yat. Although it is not a work of history, K. al-Jamahir does
function as such in a limited way. We are served with one historical anecdote after another. He is a "Polyhistor" as Rypka calls him, or a "Polymath" as many have called him. He has clearly delineated through the
narration of historical facts and anecdotes how the 'Abbasids brought
about the decline of the Caliphate. (It was to disappear two centuries
later). He also took to task the Persians penchant for glorifying their
past and shu'ubiyah (chauvinism). He did not shirk from offering advice
to Sultan Mahmud. Lastly, his stories and anecdotes about metals and
stones offer a comprehensive picture of the Islamic society and history.
Many facts and anecdotes narrated by him about jewels during the
'Abbasid period had been chronicled earlier but the events attending the
Central Asia and India and Sultan Mahmud's reign have been unfolded
like a freshly sewn tapestry for the first time. Who knows Beruni's information might prove useful even today if a proper survey of the localities mentioned by him is taken up. Cornelian, for instance, has been
found in the extreme north of Pakistan. Once, when I had taken up the
task of translating, annotating and editing of K. al-Saydanah, it occurred
to me that K. al-Jamahir might serve as a companion volume, supplementing, as it were, our knowledge of plant kingdom with mineral kingdom.
By and large, then, in K. al-Jamahir, we have a work by one of the
greatest scholars of all times. Several things are apparent from this work.
He is a Sunnite Muslim but a very tolerant one. He was, in probability,
married and had children, since he extols the virtue and sanctity of
marriage. He is, however, very careful in not permitting his personal life
to obtrude upon his writing.
It was proposed to publish a glossary of stones, minerals, concretions,
and deposits mentioned by Beruni, since he has not discussed the therapeutic effects of these except in a cursory way. But then we thought
that as Beruni had already covered this aspect in K. al-Saydanah, any
further addendum in the form of a glossary would be superfluous, although stones and minerals form an important part of the Greco-Arab
