Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab, in **Lewis, B. (1992). Race and slavery in the Middle East: An historical enquiry. New York: Oxford University Press. p 52
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"Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."

— Al-Masudi on Medieval Arab attitudes to Black people

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets ""Galen says that merriment dominates the black man because of his defective brain, whence also the weakness of his intelligence."" in the context of "Al-Masudi, Muruj al-dhahab, in **Lewis, B. (1992). Race and slavery in the Middle East: An historical enquiry. New York: Oxford University Press. p 52" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Medieval Arab attitudes to Black people" (Quotes, M) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Al-Masudi

About Al-Masudi

al-Masʿūdī (full name Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Masʿūdī, أبو الحسن علي بن الحسين بن علي المسعودي), c. 896–956, was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler.