This is the first step in textual criticism and must be taken as its foundation.

This is the first step in textual criticism and must be taken as its foundation. He directed a violent attack on the manner in which some Arab chroniclers accepted and narrated ancient poetry, and, therefore, questioned the authenticity of many of their texts. The other important point in ibn Sallam’s book is the division of poets into classes. With regard to time, poets were either Islamic or pre-Islamic.

He tried to classify the poets of either era according to the abundance and excellence of their poetry. In his classification he also took into consideration the place of origin. Although ibn Sallam failed to support judgments he passed on poets and poetry by analyzing the…