Bayt al-Hikma

The House of Wisdom was a treasury of knowledge and books in Baghdad. Sahl ibn Harun, the head of the House of Wisdom, was in charge of it, and then Salm. Copying was done there for al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun. ³

Salm, the head of the House of Wisdom, was among those whom al-Ma'mun sent to the land of the Romans to bring back ancient books. ³

Ahmad Amin holds that its founder was, in appearance, al-Rashid, who laid its foundation, and that al-Ma'mun developed and strengthened it. He notes that the accounts of the library are wrapped in great obscurity, and researchers have found only scraps of them. In the time of al-Rashid it was a place with books, with a head and assistants, where Greek and Persian books were copied and translated. ⁴

He also says that al-Ma'mun wrote to the king of the Romans asking leave to send whatever ancient sciences he chose from among those stored in his lands, and the king agreed after hesitation. He sent out a group of men, among them al-Hajjaj ibn Matar, Ibn al-Bitriq and Salm, the head of the House of Wisdom. ⁴

He also says that when al-Ma'mun made a truce with the ruler of Cyprus, he asked him for a library of Greek books; the ruler sent it, and al-Ma'mun made Sahl ibn Harun its keeper. ⁴