'Inbat al-miyah al-khafiyya' (The Excavation of Hidden Waters) was written around 1000 AD by Al-Karaji (953 -1029),  a Persian Muslim mathematician and engineer. This book is regarded as the oldest known book on Hydrology. The book contains technical and scientific details of finding the water level, instruments for surveying, techniques for water searching, construction & maintenance of the conduits and their lining, Qanats etc. The book also describes water flow, the classification of soils, origins of under-ground water, surface indication of underground water, the different types and hydraulic characteristics of aquifers, effects of earth quakes on water resources, procedures for determining water quality, treatment of water etc. The information presented in the book is inline with modern theories, most of which was discovered by the west more than 700 years later!

Al-Karaji had discussed the complete hydrological in al-Khafiyya; the description is scattered throughout the book. At one place in his book, he mentions:

“The transformation of water into air in the hot regions and air into water in the cold regions creates a constant cycle which guarantees the prosperity of the lands”.

He concludes that clouds stem from evaporation on the sea; the sun taking only the freshest water from the surface of sea. For this reason, according to karaji, the water remaining on the surface is the most saline, whereas with increasing depth, the sea water becomes progressively fresher, with fresh water being at the bottom of the sea. Karaji also distinguishes between three types of sub water: original (juveline) water, condensed water and common ground water.

Discussing various techniques for searching for water, Karaji mentions one such technique that involved geology, now called Hydrogeology as follows:

“The higher the ratio of the amount of stone to the amount ofsoil in a particular mountain, the less the chance to find a supply of groundwater. Thereis no groundwater in the small and separated mountains especially those which havehard rocks, because no snow can last long on their tops. In case there would be a chainof mountains covering a vast area, it is more likely to find a good supply ofgroundwater, because such mountains enjoy many valleys that can hold ice and snowuntil summer. If a mountain has a flat top with thick vegetation casting shadow on theground and protecting the soil moisture from sun, there would be a better chance tocome across an aquifer……….all the lands linked to the aforementioned mountains contain a good supply ofgroundwater, especially the land which is the lowest as well as the closest to the Earth’score….”

In al-khafiyya, al-karaji provides information on ditch lining that is inline with modern theories:

“If waterway is loose and permeable, the bed should be covered with large bricks and dark lime… or they have to dig the bed about a meter down, and then refill it with clay and compact it by beetle as the bed ditch stands at the same level. Both sides of the ditch should he inclined and built with the same material. Adding some water to clay makes the ditch more efficient. But the water shouldn’t be cut so that its original moisture remains. Lining the ditch with compacted mixture of clay, sand and loam increase its firmness. Our ancestors said, “let the quadrupeds go through ditches to trample”. Lining the ditches with compacted mixture of slaked lime, sand and clay with original moisture became very stiff after a while. Sometimes the bed of canals became so stiff that well sinkers are not able to dig it. Many times those loose lands are covered with rocks and their porous filled with the mixture of clay, lime and sand.”

In the modern science of hydrology, the amount of the bound of well or Qanat is correlated with the type of ground, the amount of seepage and a steady coefficient. Karaji has shown this knowledge in this regard by writing about the role of depth, seepage and ground in designating a bound.

Karaji has also discussed various aspects of earth sciences in his book. He described the earth as spherical ( not flat):

“The Earth with all the mountains and plains on it has a spherical shape. The earth is doomed to spin all the time. Every element on the earth is being drawn toward the center of the earth….”

He also writes in his book:

“whatever higher than the Earth surface such as a building may fall down, and it is attributable to the same attracting force inherent in the Earth and its sphericity.” 

Karaji, thus, succeeded Newton by several centuries in knowing that the earth has a force he named “the tendency to the center” the same that Newton called gravitation! According to Karaji, water is also affected by the force of gravity like every object on the earth.

Although dams have been constructed since ancient times- the first one in 750 BC - medieval Muslims added many innovation to dam construction, maintenance and usage as is evident from the design of many dams built in Iran, Spain, Afghanistan among other places. The use of trigonometry, astrolobes and complex surveying techniques in the construction of these dams resulted in the survival of a number of these dams till today.

One such magnificent dam was the Band-i Amir dam, built in 960AD over the River Kurr between Shiraz and Istakhr in the province of Fars, Iran by Amir Adud al-Dawla. Band-i Amir dam is 250 feet long and 30 feet high and is considered one of the earliest example of the use of dams for hydropower. The water from this dam powered water-raising wheels and watermills – technology pioneered during medieval Islamic civilization.

Al-Muqaddasi , the notable 10th century geographer, wrote about this dam in his famous book ‘Ahsan at-Taqasim fi Ma`rifat il-Aqalim’ (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions):

‘Adud al-Dawla closed the river between Shiraz and Istakhr by a great wall, strengthened with lead. And the water behind it rose and formed a lake. Upon it on the two sides were ten water-wheels, like those we mentioned in Khuzistan, and below each wheel was a mill, and it is today one of the wonders of Fars. Then he built a city. The water flowed through channels and irrigated 300 villages.’

Badi-i-Amir was constructed with solid masonry blocks that were connected with iron bars set in lead. Cement mortar was used in the joints that binded the structure and made it watertight. The engineers were thus aware of the importance of the quality of mortar and as Al-Balkhi , wrote ”even an iron tool could not scratch it”.

Owing to this high quality of construction, this dam even after more than 1000 years of construction still survives, although it is now silted up.

Al-Kindi (Latinized as Alkindus) was a 9th century Arab Muslim polymath with contributions in Mathematics & Cryptography, Physics, Philosophy, Astronomy, Chemistry, environment, meterology, Medicine, Music and Psychology; with a number of treatises in these areas. His total number of books, as mentioned in Ibn Nadim's Fihrist is 241 (less than 40 are extant ), out of which  atleast 22 were on philosophy and 9 on logic. 'fi al-falsafat al-awla' (on First Philosophy) is regarded as one of his well-known works.

Excerpts:

On Philosophy:

"Indeed, the human art which is higest in degree and most noble in rank is the art of Philosophy, the definition of which is knowledge of the true nature of things, insofar as is possible for man. The aim of the philospher is, as regards to his knowledge, to attain the truth, and as regards his action, to act truthfully; not that the activity is endless, for we abstain and the activity ceases, once we have reached the truth. We do not find the truth we are seeking without finding the cause; the cause of the existence and continuance of everything is The True One, in that each thing which has being has truth. The True One exists necessarily, and therefore beings exist. The noblest part of philosophy and the highest rank in the First Philosophy, i.e. knowledge of the First Truth who is the cause of all truth."

Arguments against Eternity of the World:

"Now, if there is an infinite body, then whenever a body of finite magnitude is separated from it, that which remains of it will either be a finite magnitude or an infinite magnitude. If that which remains of it is a finite magnitude, then whenever that finite magnitude which is separated from it is added to it, the body which comes to be from them both together is a finite magnitude; though that which comes to be from them both is that which was infinite before something was separated from it. It is thus finite and infinite, and this is an impossible contradiction.”

On Truth:

"We ought not to be embarrassed of appreciating the truth and of obtaining it wherever it comes from, even if it comes from races distant and nations different from us. Nothing should be dearer to the seeker of truth than the truth itself, and there is no deterioration of the truth, nor belittling either of one who speaks it or; conveys it."

Seeking Knowledge:

"Our residence in this phenomenal world is transitory; it is a journey towards the eternal one. The most miserable man, is he who prefers for himself the material above the spiritual, for the material, apart from its ephemeral nature, obstructs our passage to the spiritual world. Man should not `disregard any means to protect himself against all human vices, and he should seek to rise to the highest ends of human virtues..., that is, to the knowledge by means of which we protect ourselves against spiritual and bodily disease, and acquire the human virtues in whose very essence goodness is grounded"

... operating on unknowns using all the arithmetical tools, in the same way as the arithmetician operates on the known.

ax^m – (- bx^m) = (a + b)x^m

Al-Karaji provided two methods for the solution of quadratic equations. One geometric and the other purely algebraic; the later involving formation of a complete square followed by extraction of square roots.

The historian of mathematics, F. Woepcke, in ‘Extrait du Fakhri, traité d'Algèbre par Abou Bekr Mohammed Ben Alhacan Alkarkhi’ (Paris, 1853), regarded Al-Karaji as "the first who introduced the theory of algebraic calculus”

Selections from 'Gulistan'' (The Rose Garden/The Flower Garden) written in 1258 by Persian Muslim Abu Muṣliḥ bin Abdallah Shirazi, commonly known as Saadi:


The above is written on the entrance of the united Nations building in New York.

More Excerpts:

"A learned man who has got into an argument with the ignorant can have no hopes of supporting his own dignity; and if an ignoramus by his loquacity gets the upper hand it should not surprise us, for he is a stone and can bruise a gem. No wonder if his spirit flag; the nightingale is cooped up in the same cage with the crow.---If the man of sense is coarsely treated by the vulgar, let it not excite our wrath and indignation; if a piece of worthless stone can bruise a cup of gold, its worth is not increased, nor that of the gold diminished."

"Whoever does no good in the time of ability will see distress in the time of inability."

"Two men took useless trouble and strove without any profit, when one of them accumulated property without enjoying it, and the other learnt without practising what he had learnt.

However much science thou mayest acquire
Thou art ignorant when there is no practice in thee.
Neither deeply learned nor a scholar will be
A quadruped loaded with some books.
What information or knowledge does the silly beast posses
Whether it is carrying a load of wood or of books?"

"A scholar without diligence is a lover without money; a traveler without knowledge is a bird without wings; a theorist without practice is a tree without fruit; and a devotee without learning is a house without an entrance."

"Whatever is produced in haste goes hastily to waste."

In Conclusion of the Book:

"The book of the "Gulistan, or Flower-Garden," has been completed through the assistance and grace of Allah, the Almighty. Throughout the work the custom of authors to insert verses from ancient writers by way of loan, has not been followed.


To adorn oneself with one's own rag
Is better than to ask for the loan of a robe.


Most of the utterances of Sa'di being exhilarant and mixed with pleasantry, shortsighted persons have on this account lengthened the tongue of blame, alleging that it is not the part of intelligent men to spend in vain the kernel of their brain, and to eat without profit the smoke of the lamp; it is, however, not concealed from enlightened men, who are able to discern the tendency of words, that pearls of curative admonition are strung upon the thread of explanation, and that the bitter medicine of advice is commingled with the honey of wit, in order that the reader's mind should not be fatigued, and thereby excluded from the benefit of acceptance; and praise be to the Lord of both worlds.


We gave advice in its proper place
Spending a lifetime in the task.
If it should not touch anyone's ear of desire
The messenger told his tale; it is enough.




O thou who lookest into it, ask Allah to have mercy
On the author and to pardon the owner of it.
Ask for thyself whatever benefit thou mayest desire,
And after that pardon for the writer of it.
If I had on the day of resurrection an opportunity
Near the Compassionate one I should say: 'O Lord,
I am the sinner and thou the beneficent master,
For all the ill I have done I crave for thy bounty.'


Gratitude is due from me to God that this book is ended Before my life has reached its termination."
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The Aghlabids Basins are huge water reservoirs built in the 9th century by Ahmed ibn muhammed of the Aghlabid dynasty outside the city walls of Al-Qayrawan. Al-Qayrawan (also known as Kairouan), the capital of Tunisia, North Africa, was one of the leading center of culture and learning during medieval period that attracted people from different parts of the world.

In Al-Qayrawan, alone, there were hundreds of water reservoirs to supply water to the towns, the many gardens and for irrigation purposes. One of the most famous water reservoirs were the the Aghlabids Basins - the remains of which are a tourist attraction today. These were basically two large basins; the smaller one 37.4m in diameter and the larger one having 128m diameter. Water was delivered from mountains located 36km west of the city, by an aqueduct, into the smaller seventeen-sided settling basin that had a capacity of 4000 cubic meters. This smaller basin filtered the water from debris before decanting it into the larger basin. The larger basin was the main reservoir with a holding capacity of 57000 cubic meters that was connected to a vaulted cistern for pumping purposes. More than 180 buttresses were used in these water basins.

References:

Islamic gardens and landscapes By D. Fairchild Ruggles
Museum with No Frontiers: http://www.museumwnf.org
Tunisia By Anthony Ham, Abigail Hole
Muqarnas, Volume 3: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture By Oleg Grabar

Besides the numerous public libraries (as well as many private libraries), having thousands of books, there were also a large number of small and large bookshops spread across various regions of the medieval Islamic world. Baghdad, for example, prior to destructions by Mongols in 1258, had 36 libraries and over a hundred book-dealers. The ‘Koutoubia Mosque’ the largest mosque in Marrakech, Morocco got its name from Arabic al-Koutoubiyyin for librarian as the mosque was surrounded by booksellers.

After the establishment of first paper mill in Samarqand in 751, many more paper mills were established in the 8th century in Baghdad and other cities and thus paper books became common. A large number of books were being written and published. In al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) alone, 60,000 books were published each year.

One large bookshop and renowned during the medieval period was that owned by Al-Nadim and his father in the 10th century, Baghdad. His bookshop, built on an upper storey of large building, had thousands of books on a wide variety of subjects including philosophy, religion (not only limited to Islam but other religions as well), medicine, literature and others. Al-Nadim and his father had their own scribes for the coping of books. Their bookshop was popular among scholars who also had academic discussions while having refreshments there. Al-Nadim himself was a highly learned man having acquired education from famous scholars including Ibn-Isfahani. In 987, Al-nadim wrote kitab al-Fihrist (‘The Catalogue’ or ‘Book of the Index’) that was an attempt to list all titles of books known till his time.

These bookshops and the great libraries were the result of a great desire for the quest of knowledge and love of books. Quoting Ibn al-Arabi, the 12th century Muslim philosopher.

"A book is the only orchard, I have ever seen which can be put in one's sleeve and the only park which accompanies a man as he goes. The book is the tongue of the dead and the voice of the living. He is an evening visitor who never sleeps until you sleep and never utters a word except what pleases you, never reveals a secret or abuses a deposit."

Al-Masudi, full name: Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi, was a 9th century traveler, Historian & Geographer who was born in 896, Baghdad, Iraq and died in 956, Cairo, Eygpt. He was a descendant of Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).

Al-Masudi started traveling in the year 915 (or earlier) and spent the remainder of his life in travel. He visited East Africa, China, Arabia, Indus valley and other parts of India, Sri Lanka, Syria, Egypt, Central Asia and Turkistan. Al-Masudi sailed on the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea.

Al-Masudi wrote the accounts of his travels, the history and geography of the places he visited and the people he met in his books. His last book was ‘Al-Tanbih’ in which he mentioned that thirty-four books had been written by him; unfortunately only four out of his thirty four works have survived.  Two of his most important works are ‘Akhbar az-zaman’ (The History of Time)  - a 30 volume book and ‘Muruj adh-dhahab wa madin al-jawahir’ (The Meadows of Gold and the Mines of Gems) that established his reputation as Historian and he was compared with the ancient Greek Historians ‘Herodotus’. Az-Zaman is now almost completely lost; Muruj adh-dhahab contains abridged text from Az-Zaman besides other text. The earliest translation of Muruj adh-dhahab is that in French, by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, between 1861-77.

In ‘The Meadows of Gold and the Mines of Gems’, Al-Masudi writes:

“The object of these journeys has been to satisfy our thirst for knowledge, and to learn the peculiarities of the various nations and  parts of the world, by witnessing them, and the state of foreign countries, by seeing them; in this way we travelled to India  , Ez-Zinj , Es-Sinf, Ez-Zanij. We have also traversed the East and the West. Sometimes we were in the extremity of Khorasan, other times in the centre of  Armenia  and Adherbuan  , Er-Rin  And El- Bailkax , then again in EL-Irak and in Esh-Sham (Syria). We went from one quarter of the earth to the other as the sun makes his revolutions. As some poet says: " We rambled through the different parts of the country, sometimes we were in the extreme east and other times in the west, like  the sun, the ardour of the mind which remains  unimpaired, is unsatisfied until it reaches the region (the other world,) which cannot be approached by traveling." "

On his travels, he met and interacted with people from religions other than Islam. Camilla Adang in ‘Muslim writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: from Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm’ writes about Al-masudi:

“Wherever he went, Al-Masudi sought the company of the representative of different religions and sects. Thus he visited fire temples in Iran and discussed Zoroastrianism with mobeds and herbads; he consulted Christian priests and laymen in Takrit and Antioch, and met Sabians in Harran. It is therefore not surprising to find him in discussion with eminent Jewish scholars in Raqqa, Tiberias and Baghdad.”

The  'Kitab al-Jami fi al-Adwiya al-Mufrada' (The Book of Simple Drugs and Food) is considered as of the largest botanical and pharmaceutical encyclopedia that was written by Ibn al-Baitar in the 13th century.

Ibn al-Baytar's (1188 - 1248) full name was 'Abu Muhammad Abdallah Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Baitar Dhiya al-Din al-Malaqi' and he was born in Muslim Spain in the city of Malaga. He was the student of the famous Muslim botanist Al-Nabati (author of 'Kitab Al-Rihla' - a book on botany that is now lost but known through the works of Al-Baytar). Al-Baytar left Spain in 1219 to study and research the varieties of plants found in different regions. He traveled a lot and visited many places including Anatolia, Bugia, Constantinople, Tunis, Tripoli, Barqa, Adalia, Palestine, Syria and Arabia.

Kitab al-Jami lists plants, drugs and foods in alphabetical order, giving detailed descriptions, properties, therapeutic values, medicinal uses and synonyms. The book contains 2324 paragraphs and 3000 terms.

Kitab al-Jami was translated in Latin in 1758 and was considered one of the authority books on botany and Pharmacology until the early 19th century.

The botanical encyclopedia 'Kitab al-Nabat' (Book of Plants) was written in the 9th century by Al-Dinawari and is considered one of the earliest works on botany.

Al-dinawai's full name was Abu Hanifah Ahmad ibn Dawud Dinawari  and he was born in Dinawar (Iran) in AD 820.  He was a Muslim polymath  with expertise in Botany, Astronomy, Mathematics, Mechanics, Philosophy, Poetry, Geography and History.

Al-dinawari wrote more than sixteen books on various subjects. The 'Book of Plants' was originally a six volume book but only the third, fifth and sixth (partial)volumes have survived. The book discusses more than 637 varieties of plants, their categorization, evolution stages, medical and physiological properties.

 Al-Dinawari is regarded as the 'Father of Arabic Botany' due to his work presented in this book.

This post is slightly off-topic - something that is, unfortunately, quite frequent but nevertheless very frustrating.

One of my post was plagiarized a few weeks ago and yesterday two more instances of plagiarism of my posts 'List of Muslim scientists' and 'Ibn Sina (Avicenna)' came to my notice. It is frustrating to suddenly find your very own post, written after long hours of hard work, research and dedication, on somebody else's blog - that too under somebody else's name! I fail to understand why people plagiarize. If one doesn't have the talent to write original content, why not do something else that he/she is really good at.........nobody can be expert at everything and everybody is good at something.

To discourage further plagiarism,  I have decided to change the style of my posts. I will be putting less details in each post and would be highlighting only the significant points. This may slightly disappoint the regular readers of this blog to whom I am very grateful for their very encouraging and friendly feedbacks. I feel that the solution to this problem is to put the details in a book form. I especially wish to sincerely thank Mr.George Polley [ Tostada Speaks and  GeogePolleyAuthor ] who had been encouraging me for quite sometime to give this blog a book form. I have a high regard for him not only for his intellect and wisdom, but I truly find him a great person with a loving heart. Thanks Tostada!  One of the first readers of this blog, Tricia has supported me constantly through her positive and touching feedbacks. She has been very sick since last one month and hasn't been online since last ten days. These net friendships are so odd. You do feel the joys and sorrows and feel connected but you feel completely helpless when the other person can't go online!

I hope that my net friends and blog readers will bear this change with me. Definitely, a detailed version with references will appear in the book. I am open to suggestions regarding the blog/book and am looking forward for any input/support/guidance. A sincere thank you for all your support and kind words.