the year of our Lord 642. The manner by which
this misfortune happened is too singular to be passed
over in silence.

"John, surnamed the Grammarian, a famous
follower of Aristotle, happened to be at Alexandria,
when the city was taken; and as he was much esteemed
by Amri Ebnol As, the general of the Saracen
troops, he entreated that commander to bestow
upon him the Alexandrian library. Amri replied,
that it was not in his power to grant such a request;
but that he would write to the Khalif, or emperor
of the Saracens, for his orders on that head, without
which he could not presume to dispose of the
library. He accordingly wrote to Omar, the then
Khalif, whose answer was, that if those books contained
the same doctrine with the Koran, they could
not be of any use, because the Koran was sufficient
in itself, and comprehended all necessary truths;
but if they contained any particulars contrary to
that book, they ought to be destroyed. In consequence
to this answer, they were all condemned to
the flames, without any further examination; and,
for that purpose, were distributed among the public
baths; where, for the space of six months, they
were used for fuel instead of wood. We may from
hence form a just idea of the prodigious number of
books contained in that library; and thus was this
inestimable treasure of learning destroyed!