"The foundations of old knowledge have collapsed.
Wise men have probed the depths of the earth;
Treasures of buried strata furnish the proofs of creation.
[Religion] is no longer the apex of fulfillment for the intelligent.
Atlas does not hold up the earth, nor is Aphrodite divine;
Plato’s wisdom cannot explain the principles of evolution.
‘Amr is no slave of Zayd, nor is Zayd ‘Amr’s master *—
Law depends upon the principle of equality.
Neither the fame of Arabia, nor the glory of Cairo remains.
This is the time for progress; the world is a world of science;
Is it possible to maintain society in ignorance?"
- Sâdullah Pasha, Ottoman intellectual, The Nineteenth Century, poem, 1878.
Based on the poem, it can be inferred that Sâdullah Pasha was most influenced by
which of the following?
(A) Social Darwinism
(B) Positivism
(C) Romantic nationalism
(D) Abolitionism