Al-Masʿudi lived at a time when books were available and cheap. Major cities like Baghdad had large public libraries and many individuals, such as as-Suli, a friend of al-Mas‘udi's, had private libraries, often containing thousands of volumes. Early in the
Abbasid era the art of papermaking was brought to the Islamic world by Chinese
prisoners after the
battle of Talas and most large towns and cities had paper mills. Available cheap writing material contributed to the lively intellectual life. Al-Mas'udi often refers readers to his other books, assuming their availability. The high literacy and vigor of the Islamic world with its rich cultural heritage of Greek philosophy, Persian literature, Indian mathematics, contrasted with that of Europe, when the author of the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was writing. Islamic Abbasid society of al-Masʿudi's world manifested a knowledge seeking, perceptive analytical attitude and scholarly-minded people associated naturally in this highly civilized atmosphere. Al-Mas'udi was a pupil, or junior colleague, of prominent intellectuals, including the philologists al-Zajjaj,
Ibn Duraid,
Niftawayh and ibn Anbari. He was acquainted with famous poets, including Kashajim, whom he probably met in
Aleppo. He was well read in philosophy, the works of
al-Kindi and
al-Razi, the
Aristotelian thought of
al-Farabi and the
Platonic writings. It is probable that al-Masʿudi met al-Razi and al-Farabi, but only a meeting with al-Farabi's pupil Yahya ibn Adi, of whom he spoke highly, is recorded. He was familiar with the medical work of
Galen, with
Ptolemaic astronomy, with the geographical work of Marinus and with the studies of Islamic geographers and astronomers. In
The Meadows of Gold, al-Mas'udi wrote his famous condemnation of revelation over reason: He mentions meeting influential jurists and cites the work of others and indicates training in jurisprudence. According to
al-Subki, al-Mas'udi was a student of Ibn Surayj, the leading scholar of the
Shafi'ite school. Al-Subki claimed he found al-Mas'udi's notes of Ibn Surayj's lectures. Al-Mas'udi also met Shafi'ites during his stay in Egypt. He met
Zahirites in Baghdad and
Aleppo such as Ibn Jabir and Niftawayh; modern scholarship leans toward the view that al-Mas'udi was an adherent of the latter school. Al-Masʿudi knew leading
Mu'tazilites, including al-Jubba, al-Nawbakhti, Ibn Abdak al-Jurjani and Abu'l-Qasim al-Balkhi al-Ka'bi. He was also well acquainted with previous Mu'tazilite literature. His reasoning, his phraseology, and his expressed high esteem for Mu'tazilities could suggest that he was one of their number. However, Shboul points out that his extant works do not specifically state that he was. Al-Mas'udi included the history of the ancient civilizations that had occupied the land upon which Islam later spread. He mentions the
Assyrians,
Babylonians, Egyptians and Persians among others. He is also the only Arab historian to refer (albeit indirectly) to the kingdom of
Urartu, when he speaks about the wars between the Assyrians (led by the legendary Queen
Semiramis) and
Armenians (led by King
Ara the Handsome). Al-Masʿudi was aware of the influence of ancient Babylon on Persia. He had access to a wealth of translations by scholars such as
Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa from
Middle Persian into Arabic. In his travels, he also personally consulted Persian scholars and
Zoroastrian priests. He thus had access to much material, factual and mythical. Like other Arabic historians, he was unclear on the
Achaemenid dynasty, though he knew of Kurush (
Cyrus the Great). He was much clearer on the more recent dynasties and his estimation of the time between
Alexander the Great and
Ardashir is much more accurately depicted than it is in
al-Tabari. His wide-ranging interests included the Greeks and the Romans. Again, like other Arabic historians, he was unclear on Greece before the
Macedonian dynasty that produced
Alexander the Great. He is aware that there were kings before this, but is unclear on their names and reigns. He also seems unfamiliar with such additional aspects of Greek political life as Athenian democratic institutions. The same holds for Rome prior to
Caesar. However, he is the earliest extant Arabic author to mention the Roman
founding myth of
Romulus and Remus. In al-Masʿudi's view the greatest contribution of the Greeks was philosophy. He was aware of the progression of Greek philosophy from the
pre-Socratics onward. He also was keenly interested in the earlier events of the Arabian peninsula. He recognized that Arabia had a long and rich history. He also was well-aware of the mixture of interesting facts in pre-Islamic times, in myths and controversial details from competing tribes and even referred to the similarity between some of this material and the legendary and story telling contributions of some
Middle Persian and Indian books to the
Thousand and One Nights. ==Travels in lands beyond Islam==