 | Cornelius Howard Patton - 1917 - 280 pages
...goes that Amr consulted Omar, the caliph, as to what he should do with the books, and Omar replied, "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed." Whereupon, it is stated,... | |
 | Arthur Quiller-Couch - 1920 - 282 pages
...perpetrated in AD 642. Gibbon quotes the famous sentence of Omar, the great Mohammedan who gave the order: "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved ; if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed," and goes on: The sentence... | |
 | Matthew Arnold - 1962 - 598 pages
...after capturing Alexandria in 640 (or 641) An whether he might spare the famous l1brary, Omar replied, "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed." "The sentence was executed,"... | |
 | George Allan - 1990 - 344 pages
...argued when asked what his victorious generals should do about the library at conquered Alexandria: "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the Book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed." Useless or pernicious,... | |
 | P. E. Satterthwaite, David F. Wright - 1994 - 358 pages
...the ancient library of Alexandria. This was supposedly on the instructions of the caliph, who stated: 'If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God [the Koran], they are useless and need not to be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious and... | |
 | Neil A. Porter - 1998 - 306 pages
...library. The Caliph Omar is said to have justified this final act of vandalism on the ground that: 'If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed'. Abulpharagius records... | |
 | E. A. Wallis Budge - 2001 - 344 pages
...conqueror. Amrou was inclined to gratify the wish of the grammarian, but his rigid integrity refused to alienate the minutest object without the consent...with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved: if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed.' The sentence was executed... | |
 | Stephen J. Spignesi - 2002 - 374 pages
...burned for fuel. The caliph issued the following statement regarding the works housed in the library: // these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless, and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed.2 This single event... | |
 | Rukmini Bhaya Nair - 2002 - 346 pages
...demonification of Islam, the anecdote that has survived remains instructive. Omar is said to have observed: "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the Book of God (AJ Koran), they are useless and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought... | |
 | Donald W. Braben - 2004 - 220 pages
...saved. and he famously replied with one of the earliest examples of the twentieth century's Catch 22: "If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God they are useless. and need not be preserved: if thev disagree. they are pernicious. and ought to be destroyed" 1Vol. III. p. 568l.... | |
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If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless, and need not be preserved ; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed. 
