Composed by Grigor Magistros, an 11th-century Armenian princely savant and friend of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus (reigned 1042-55), the Magnalia Dei is a summation of the Bible in epic verse. Written on one of the author's visits to Constantinople, it resulted from an encounter there with a Moslem intellectual by the name of Manazi - none other than Abu Nasr al-Manazi, vizier and emissary of the Abbasid Caliphate, theologian and poet, who frequently visited Constantinople in quest of Greek scientific manuscripts. During their discussion on the Bible and the Qur'an, a stock Islamic argument emerged: that the Qur'an is superior to the Christian Scriptures on account of its beautiful, inimitable verse. The epic is Magistros's response. 0.