old woman, and true chivalry from a water carrier’. By making religion more personal and less institutional, Sufism gained popularity and posed a challenge to orthodox Islam. An alternative vision of God and the universe was developed by Islamic philosophers and scientists under the influence of Greek philosophy and science. During the seventh century, remnants of late Greek culture could still T HE C ENTRAL I SLAMIC L ANDS Painting of whirling dervishes, Iranian manuscript, .
Of the four men dancing, only one is shown with his hands in the ‘correct’ position. Some have succumbed to vertigo and are being led away. T HEMES IN W ORLD H ISTORY be found in the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, although they were slowly dying. In the schools of Alexandria, Syria and Mesopotamia, once part of Alexander’s empire, Greek philosophy, mathematics and medicine were taught along with other subjects.
The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs commissioned the translation of Greek and Syriac books into Arabic by Christian scholars. Translation became a well-organised activity under al-Mamun, who supported the Library cum Institute of Science (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad where the scholars worked. The works of Aristotle, the Elements of Euclid and Ptolemy’s Almagest were brought to the attention of Arabic-reading scholars. Indian works on astronomy, mathematics and medicine were also translated into Arabic during the same period.
These works reached Europe and kindled interest in philosophy and science.