In thene hundred years after Muhammad died， the Muslims cnquered the Middle East and Nrth Africa. Sn after that， they cnquered Persia and lands farther east. Befre lng， their empire was larger than the Rman Empire had been. Fr the Middle East and Nrth Africa， the centuries that fllwed were indeed Arabian Days. Althugh they failed t cnquer mstf Eurpe，ver the years peple there learned many things frm the Muslims.
The Phenicians inventedur alphabet， but the Arabs invented the figureswhich we use tday in arithmetic. 1， 2， 3， 4， and sn are called Arabic figures. The Rmans used letters insteadf figures： V std fr 5， X fr 10， C fr 100， M fr 1000， and sn. Think hw difficult it must have been fr a Rman by t add such numbers asⅣ Ⅶ+ MCXCⅡⅦ----
They culd nt be added up in clumns as we d. When yu thinkf multiplying and dividing with Rman numbers， it seems almst impssible， fr example：
MCVII
× X I X
----
ccasinally yu may see Rman figures still used-n clck faces， fr instance-but all the figures that yu use every day in yur arithmetic are Arabic figures.
Anther thing：
The Arabs built many beautiful buildings； these buildings lk quite different frm thse that the Greeks and Rmans and Christians built. The drs and windwpenings， insteadf being squarer rund， were usually hrseshe- shaped.n the tpf their msques they liked t put dmes shaped smething like annin， and at the crners they put tall spiresr minarets frm which the muezzin culd call alud the hur fr prayer. They cvered the wallsf their buildings with beautiful msaics and designs. The Muslims， hwever， were very careful that these designs were nt cpiesf anything in nature， fr they had a cmmandment in the Qur"an smething like the Christian cmmandment， "Thu shalt nt make... any likenessf anything that is in heaven abve，r that is in the earth beneath，r that is in the water under the earth." Becausef this cmmandment， mst Muslims never made drawingsr picturesf any living thing， neitherf plants nr animals. They thught they wuld be breaking the cmmandment if they did. S they made designsutf lines and curves withut cpying anything frm nature. These designs were called arabesques， and althugh they were nt like anything in nature， they wereften very beautiful.
Still anther thing：
In Arabia there grew a little bushn which were small berries with seeds inside. The sheep seemed t like these berries and， when they ate them， became very lively. The Arabs themselves tried eating the seedsf these berries with the same effect. Then they made a drinkutf these seeds by rasting and grinding them and biling them in water. This was cffee-which the Arabs had discvered and which is nw drunk allver the wrld.
Anther drink made frm berries，ften frm grapes， is alchl. The Muslims did nt like what alchl des t peple wh drink it， and s they frbade every Muslim frm drinking anything cntaining alchl， such as wine， beer，r whiskey.
Still anther thing：
Wlen clth which peple used fr clthing was made frm the hairf sheepr gats. As it tk the hairf a great many such animals t make a very little clth， wlen clth was expensive. The Arabs fundut a wayf making clth frm a plant， the cttn plant， whichf curse was much cheaper. Then inrder t decrate the clth and make it pretty and attractive， they stamped the plain clth with wden blcks shaped in different frms and dipped in clr. This printed clth that the Arabs invented was called calic.
Still anther thing：
The Arabs made swrds and knivesf such wnderful steel that the blades culd be bent duble withut breaking. The blades were said t be s keen theyculd cut thrugh the finest hair if flatedn water， a thing thatnly the sharpest razr will d， and yet at the same time s strng that they culd cut thrugh a barf steel. Such swrds were made in the East at a place called Damascus， which is in Syria， and in the West at a place called Tled， which is in Spain； and s these swrds and knives were knwn as Damascusr Tled blades. Unfrtunately， nne nw knws the Arabs" secret fr making such marvelus blades. It is what is called a lst art.
Near where Babylnnce was， the Arabs built a city named Baghdad. Yu have heardf it if yu have ever read anyf the Arabian Nights， fr mstf these stries were tld abut Baghdad. It was the eastern capitalf the Muslims. There in Baghdad the Arabs built a great schl that was famus fr many， many years. At Crdva in Spain was the western capitalf the Muslims，Muslim veiled wman standing by Saracenicrnamental arch站在撒拉逊装饰风格的拱门旁戴着面纱的穆斯林妇女and there they built anther great schl. Later， after Islam spread suthf the Sahara Desert t West Africa， Muslims there built anther wnderful schl in a city called Timbuktu.
I might tell yu manyther things these peple did-hw they made clcks with pendulums t keep time-peple had n real clcks befre； hw they started wnderful librariesf bks； and sn-but this is enugh fr the present t shw yu what intelligent peple they were.
The Arabs belng t the Semite family， the same family t which the Phenicians and Jews belng. The Arabs were as clever as their cusins the Phenicians， wh， yu remember， were very clever， but they were als as religius as theirther cusins the Jews， wh， yu remember， were very religius.
The Muslims had ideas abut wmen that are different frmurs. Mst thught it was immdest fr a wman t shw her face t men， and s every wman had t wear a thick veil which hid her face-all except her eyes- whenever she wentut where there were men. With such a veil she culd see but nt be seen. Muslims believed their wmen wuld be prtected by wearing the veil. Muslims als taught thatne man might have up t fur wives， if he culd prtect them all and care fr them equally.
nether thing that the Muslims did was t cpy and save the writingsf the Greek pets and philsphers like Aristtle. Manyf these were lst in Western Eurpe after the fallf Rme. Yu will see later that Muslim schlars saved these writings and gave them back t Eurpeans t study centuries later.
【中文阅读】
你大概读过《一千零一夜》。下面的故事是
阿拉伯时代
穆罕默德死后一百年间，穆斯林征服了中东和北非地区。此后不久，他们又征 服了波斯和东边更远的地方。不久，他们的帝国就比以前的罗马帝国还庞大了。就 中东和北非来说，这以后的几百年的确是阿拉伯的鼎盛时期。尽管穆斯林没能征服 欧洲的大部分地区，可是多年来，欧洲人也从穆斯林那里学到了很多东西。
腓尼基人发明了我们文字的字母表，而阿拉伯人则发明了我们现在算数上用的 数目字。1，2，3，4，等等，叫做阿拉伯数字。罗马人使用字母而不是数字：字母 Ⅴ代表 5，Ⅹ代表 10，C 代表 100，M 代表 1000，等等。你想想一个罗马孩子要把 以下这些数目加起来该有多难：
Ⅳ Ⅻ
+ MC
XC Ⅱ
Ⅶ
--
我们不能像使用阿拉伯数字那样把这些数目排成纵行来相加。你要想用罗马数 字做乘法或除法，那就几乎不可能了，比如说：
MCV Ⅱ
×X Ⅰ X
----
你偶尔可能会看到罗马数字还在使用--比如在钟面上--但是你每天在算术 中使用的所有数字都是阿拉伯数字。
还有一件事： 阿拉伯人建造了很多漂亮的建筑物，这些建筑物看起来和希腊人、罗马人以及基督徒建的那些建筑物很不一样。这些建筑物的门、窗既不是方的也不是圆的，通 常都是马蹄形的。在清真寺顶端，他们喜欢加上洋葱状的圆屋顶，在清真寺旁的角 落，他们建起尖塔或光塔，穆安津在上面可以大声宣告祈祷的时间。他们用漂亮的 马赛克和华美的图案装饰建筑物的墙壁。不过，穆斯林很小心，避免仿照任何自然 物来做这些图案。因为他们的《古兰经》上有一条戒律，类似于基督教的"十诫" 之一，"无论是天上、地上还是地下水里有的东西，你都绝不能仿制"。因为这条戒 律，大多数穆斯林人从不画任何有生命的东西，既不画植物，也不画动物。如果画 了，他们觉得自己就违反了戒律。因此他们用直线、曲线来设计图案，而不仿制任 何自然物。这些图案被称作"阿拉伯式花饰"，虽然它们不像任何自然物，却常常很 漂亮。
还有一件事： 在阿拉伯生长着一种小灌木，上面结着小小的浆果，浆果里面有种子。绵羊似乎很喜欢吃这种浆果，它们吃过浆果后显得很有活力。阿拉伯人自己也试着吃这种 浆果的种子，也觉得精力充沛。于是，他们就把这些种子烘焙出来，再碾碎，放到 水里煮开，做成一种饮料。这种饮料就是咖啡--咖啡是阿拉伯人发现的，现在全 世界的人都喝咖啡。
还有一种饮料也是用浆果，通常是用葡萄做的，就是酒。穆斯林不喜欢人们饮 酒后的表现，所以他们禁止任何穆斯林喝含有酒精成分的饮料，比如葡萄酒、啤酒 或威士忌。
还有一件事： 人们以前用来做衣服的毛料布是用绵羊或山羊的毛制成的。因为要用很多羊的毛才能做成一小块布料，所以毛料布很昂贵。阿拉伯人发现了用一种植物，也就是 棉花，来做布料的方法，这种布料当然就便宜多了。然后，为了装饰布料，让它看 上去既漂亮又讨人喜欢，阿拉伯人又用各种形状的木块蘸上颜料在布上印出各种图 案。阿拉伯人发明的这种印花布料叫"印花平布"。
还有一件事： 阿拉伯人用一种奇妙的钢材做刀和剑，这种刀即便刀身被弯个对折也不会断。
据说，这种刀非常锋利，连漂在水中的极纤细的头发都能砍断，而这只有最锋利的 剃刀才能做到，然而它同时又非常结实，甚至能砍断铁块。制作这种刀剑的地方， 处在东部的大马士革，今天的叙利亚境内，另一处在西部的托莱多，今天的西班牙 境内，因此这种刀剑被称作大马士革剑或托莱多剑。很不幸，现在没人知道阿拉伯 人制作这种宝刀的秘诀了，这就是人们常说的一种失传的技艺。
在古代巴比伦城所在的地方附近，阿拉伯人建了一座城叫巴格达。如果你读过《一千零一夜》里的故事，你就听说过它，因为这些故事中大多数都说到过巴格达。 巴格达是穆斯林的东部都城，阿拉伯人在那儿建了一所很重要的、名气经久不衰的 学校。西班牙的科尔多瓦是穆斯林的西部都城，他们在那儿建了另一所重要的学校。 后来，当伊斯兰教从撒哈拉沙漠的南边传播到西非之后，穆斯林在那里一个叫廷巴 克图的城市又建了一所很棒的学校。
我可以再给你讲一些阿拉伯人做的事情--他们怎样用钟摆做成了走得很准 的时钟--在这之前人们还没有真正的时钟；他们怎样建立了了不起的图书馆，等 等--但是，我目前说的这些已足以告诉你阿拉伯人是多么聪明的民族。
阿拉伯人和腓尼基人、犹太人同属于闪米特族。阿拉伯人既和同族的腓尼基人 一样聪明，你们记得吧，腓尼基人是很聪明的。同时，他们又像犹太人那样，笃信 宗教，你们记得吧，犹太人是很虔诚的。
穆斯林对于女人的看法和我们不同。多数穆斯林认为女人在男人面前露出自己 的脸是不端庄的，所以每个女人每当外出到有男人的地方都得戴上厚厚的面纱遮住 自己的脸--只有眼睛是露在外面的。有了这个面纱，她们能看到别人，但自己不 会被别人看到。穆斯林认为女人戴上面纱可以保护自己。他们还宣扬，一个男人可 以娶多达四个妻子，只要他能把她们都保护好，并一视同仁地关心她们。
穆斯林做的另一件事就是抄写和保存像亚里士多德这样的希腊诗人和哲学家的 著作。罗马帝国灭亡后，这些著作多数在西欧已经失传。你们在后面的章节中会读 到，是穆斯林的学者们珍藏了这些著作，并在数百年之后把它们交还给欧洲人去学 习和研究。