In 7 volumes, 'Dictionary of Men of Letters' by the Muslim scholar, historian, biographer, and geographer, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229 CE). In this work, Yaqut covers the lives of men of letters: grammarians linguists, genealogist, Qur'an readers, historians, secretaries. Yaqut had distinguished between 'men of letters' and 'scholars'. in his words 'The man of letters selects the choicest from everything and then composes it, while a scholar selects a particular branch of knowledge and improves upon it ' (D. Margoliouth, Dictionary of Learned Men, op. cit., pp. 1-17')