Then came el-bekri, who followed the example of el-mas'udi, but only in geogra phy, and not with respect to other subjects (ethnography and history); for the changes which had taken place in his time, since el-mas'udi, in the relative position and state of nations, and in the Spirit of times (literally, the generations) were not material.' But, at present, at the end of the eighth cen tury, a complete revolution has taken place with the Maghrib, where we live.