Machine summary:
H. ) has written· in his book (Kitabu'l• bayan wa't-tabeyyun)3 "When Yahya bin Khalid al• Barmaki invited many Hindu pan dits Mu 'ammir asked one of them, ' What is rhetoric in the opinion of Indians ?' He said, 'I have a small pamphlet with me on this subject, but I cannot translate it.
6* described in Arabic books, there is special mention of the magic and magicians of India.
They have written books on this subject, some of which have been translated into Arabic.
" In this connection many Indian books were translated into Arabic, two of which are comprised in Sindbad's story.
p. 162(Leyden) AND INDIA Besides, many other Indian stories were translated into Arabic.
In the introduction to ' India ' Professor Sachau, quoting Ibn Nadim, mentions the book .
U:[L Dim• nah, whose author is known in the beginning of the Persian translation as Pandit Bidpa- and whose subject-matter is the teaching of wisdom by means of stories and parables.
So Ibn Nadim has mentioned Bidpa's book in connection with stories and not in connection with philosophy.
Ibn Nadim has mentioned this book among the Indian legends translated into Arabic.
2 Dr. Sachau has stated that, by writing Kitabu'l-Hind, he made the Muslims proud of the fact that a member of their race had written a book which made the accounts of Greek and Chinese travellers antiquated ; and, on the other hand, laid India under the obligation that he preserved the ancient civili• zation, the ancient learning and the ancient culture of India.