I would agree about the Persians; I am not familiar with any productive Arab period. The entire “Islamic Golden Age” is a modern construct with no historic basis whatsoever. Not one major discovery or invention can be credited to the Arabs during this period.
Arabs have been destroying civilization since prehistory, but Mohammed indelibly tied violence to their cultural identity. Their only contribution to history is eternal warfare and slavery combined with unhealthy doses of cultured ignorance, fanaticism, mysticism, misogyny, homosexuality and pharmacopeia. I am sure there are some aspects I’ve overlooked, but I try to focus positive things and that is anathema when it comes to Islam.
The fact that a few “enlightened” (heretical) Muslims did not kill everyone whom they conquered, and were thereby able to assimilate some cultural aspects from civilized nations, does not equate to building a civilization. Modern Islamic apologists can be likened to an anthropologist coming upon a troop of monkeys residing in an abandoned city and ascribing the development to the current residents.
Six things Arab culture contributed:
1. Algebra (named after its inventor, Al-Gibar)
2. Medicine (before the Arabs, people’s approaches to medicine were highly unscientific and superstitious- the Arabs started using the scientific method when they experimented with medicine)
3. The composite bow (a bow with pulleys at either end, making the bow much easier to pull.)
4. Techniques in sailing (the Arabs invented the “triangle” sail, replacing the square sails used by Europeans)
5. Astronomy (used for navigational purposes)
6. Unique concepts of steel forging (The steel made in Damascus was so light and flexible that there have been reports of Damascus blades “being capable of floating on water”. While this is probably just an exaggeration, only recently have scientists been able to rediscover some of the techniques used by the Arabs)