Upon its first publication, this work was received by scholars with marked approbation as the most complete and authentic account of the Arabian Prophet and his successors which had yet been given to the world; and even at the present day, after the lapse of nearly a century, it continues to be regarded as the standard history of this eventful period. Gibbon made considerable use of this work in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

It is evident that a work designed for popular circulation, requires a nice combination of qualities which do not often meet together in the same intellect, accuracy, judgment, taste, and scholarship, all of which, it will be seen, are exhibited in Ockley's pages.

"[Ockley is] a learned and spirited interpreter of Arabian authorities, whose tales and traditions afford an artless picture of the men and the times."- Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

"[Ockley is] an original in every sense, who had opened his eyes." -Gibbon, Autobiography.

"Ockley's curious work as necessary to enable the student to comprehend the character of the Arabians, which is there displayed by their own writers in all its singularities." - Professor Smyth, Lectures on Modern History.

"The History of the Saracens is a splendid instance of success in this most difficult branch of authorship, and will considerably overpay a perusal, by the strong moral painting and dramatic vivacity with which the vigorous writer diversified and elevated his subjects."Quarterly Review (No. xxix)