Al- Jahiz , the 8th century muslim scholar, had a great love for books and spent time reading and writing books. Infact, books were the cause of his death..... he died in 868 when a pile of his books fell on him from an overloaded shelf in his private library!

al-Jahiz real name was Abu Uthman Amr ibn Bahr al-Kinani al-Fuqaimi al-Basri who was born in 781 in Basra. He wrote about two hundred books covering various subjects from Literature and Philosophy to Zoology and Social Psychology. I plan to write a seperate post on Al-Jahiz and on his famous books. In this post, however, I just wish to share some of his interesting and full of wisdom quotes on books.

I can think of no item so new,born so recently, yet modest in price and easily obtained, that brings together so much excellent advice, so much rare knowledge, so many works by great minds and keen brains, so many lofty thoughts and sound ideas, so much wisdom and so much information about ancient times, distant lands, popular sayings and ruined empires, as a book.

The book is silent as long as you need silence, eloquent when you want discourse.

If your fortune change, a book does not desert you, and if a fair wind blows for your enemies, a book does not turn against you. With a book as a friend, you will be able to do without everything else. You will not find yourself driven to bad company by boredom or loneliness.

Ibn Battuta was a 14th century traveler who covered about 75,000 miles (120,000 km)in 29 years ..... almost thrice the distance covered by his near-contemporary Marco Polo.

Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan Muslim whose full name was Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta. He was born on February 25, 1304. He started his travel in 1325 with the intention to perform Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). His travel lasted about 29 years in which he traveled an equivalent of about 44 modern countries. He visited many places in North Africa, West Africa, Turkey and Eastern Europe, Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China.

Ibn Battuta returned from his travels in 1354. On the request of Abu Inan Faris, the Sultan of Morocco at that time, he dictated an account of his journeys to a scholar named Ibn Juzayy. This travelogue is known as 'Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Ghara'ib al-Amsar wa-'Aja'ib al-Asfar' (A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling). Commonly, it is simply referred to as the 'Rihla' or 'The Journey'.

According to Historian Ross E.Dunn in 'The adventures of Ibn Battuta, a Muslim traveler of the fourteenth century':

"The book [Rihla] has been cited and quoted in hundreds of historical works, not only those relating to Islamic countries but to China and Byzantine empire as well. For the history of certain regions sudanic west Africa, Asia Minor or the Malabar coast of India, for example, the Rihla stands as the only eye-witness report on political events, human geography, and social or economic conditions for a period of century or more."

Ibn Battuta records the start of his journey in the following words :

"I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveler in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose party I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me, and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries [of Makkah and Madinah]. So I braced my resolution to quit all my dear ones...and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted-with sorrow at this separation."

On feeling of homesickness, Ibn battuta writes:

"At last we came to the town of Tunis.... Townsfolk came forward on all sides with greetings and questions to one another. But not a soul said a word of greeting to me, since there was none of them that I knew. I felt so sad at heart on account of my loneliness that I could not restrain the tears that started to my eyes, and wept bitterly. But one of the pilgrims, realizing the cause of my distress, came up to me with a greeting and friendly welcome, and continued to comfort me with friendly talk until I entered the city, where I lodged in the College of the Booksellers."

Following are various excerpts from his travelogue that are quite interesting as they provide an eye-witess account of the various cultures of that era:

Baghdad:

"The baths at Baghdad are numerous and excellently constructed, most of them being painted with pitch, which has the appearance of black marble. This pitch is brought from a spring between Kufa and Basra, from which it flows continually. It gathers at the sides of the spring like clay and is shovelled up and brought to Baghdad. Each establishment has a large number of private bathrooms, every one of which has also a wash-basin in the corner, with two taps supplying hot and cold water. Every bather is given three towels, one to wear round his waist when he goes in, another to wear round his waist when he comes out, and the third to dry himself with. In no town other than Baghdad have I seen all this elaborate arrangement, though some other towns approach it in this respect."

China:

"The hens and cocks in China are very big indeed, bigger than geese in our country and hens' eggs there are bigger than our goose eggs."

India:

"Betel-trees are grown like vines on can trellises or else trained up coco-palms. They have no fruit and are only grown for their leaves. The Indians have a high opinion of betel, and if a man visits a friend and the latter gives him five leaves of it, you would think he had given him the world, especially if he is a prince or notable. A gift of betel is a far greater honour than a gift of gold and silver. It is used in the following way: First one takes areca-nuts, which are like nutmegs, crushes them into small bits and chews them. Then the betel leaves are taken, a little chalk is put on them, and they are chewed with the areca-nuts."

Damascus:

"The variety and expenditure of the religious endowmentsat Damascus are beyond computation. There are endowments in aid of persons who cannot undertake the pilgrimage to Makkah, out of which are paid the expenses of those who go in their stead. There are other endowments for supplying wedding outfits to girls whose families are unable to provide them, and others for the freeing of prisoners. There are endowments for travellers, out of the revenues of which they are given food, clothing, and the expenses of conveyance to their countries. Then there are endowments for the improvement and paving of the streets, because all the lanes in Damascus have pavements on either side, on which the foot passengers walk, while those who ride use the roadway in the centre."

Makkah (Mecca):

"The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white garments, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and kohl and make free use of toothpicks of green arak-wood. The Meccan women are extraordinarily beautiful and very pious and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their food."

The first mechanical musical instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced automatically or mechanically without a performer) was developed in the 9th century, Baghdad by Banu Musa Brothers. It was a hydropowered organ that played interchangeable cylinders automatically. This was the first automatic reproduction of music.

The Banu Musa brothers were three famous scientists who were brothers and together played an active role in House of Wisdom, Baghdad during the 9th century. Their names along with their areas of expertise are:

- Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa (Astronomy, Engineering, Geometry and Physics)
- Ahmad ibn Musa (Engineering and Mechanics)
- Al-Hasan ibn Musa (Engineering and Geometry)

The banu Musa brothers authored about 20 books in the areas of astronomy, mechanics, and mathematics. One of their greatest book was 'Kitab al-Hiyal' (The Book of Ingenious Devices) that contains the design and description of 100 mechanical and automatic devices, majority of which were their original invention. The English translation of this book was done by Donald Hill in 1979.

Hydropowered organ is described in 'The Book of Ingenious Devices'.  Charles B. Fowler in "The Museum of Music: A History of Mechanical Instruments", Music Educators Journal (October 1967) on this invention:

"cylinder with raised pins on the surface remained the basic device to produce and reproduce music mechanically until the second half of the nineteenth century."

The Banu Musa also invented an automatic flute player which is considered as the first programmable machine.

The first steam Engine was invented by Taqi al-Din, in 1551, as a prime mover for rotating a spit. Taqi al-Din(1526–1585) was a renowned Muslim Polymath during Ottoman Empire. He wrote more than 90 books on a wide variety of subjects including engineering, mathematics, mechanics, optics, astronomy, astrology, clocks, and natural philosophy.

In his book Al-Turuq al-saniyya fi al-alat al-ruhaniyya (The Sublime Methods of Spiritual Machines), taqi al-Din described a steam turbine as a prime mover for rotating a spit. This invention was the first in history where steam was used to generate mechanical power. Below is a translation from his book:

“Part Six: Making a spit which carries meat over fire so that it will rotate by itself without the power of an animal. This was made by people in several ways, and one of these is to have at the end of the spit a wheel with vanes, and opposite the wheel place a hollow pitcher made of copper with a closed head and full of water. Let the nozzle of the pitcher be opposite the vanes of the wheel. Kindle fire under the pitcher and steam will issue from its nozzle in a restricted form and it will turn the vane wheel. When the pitcher becomes empty of water bring close to it cold water in a basin and let the nozzle of the pitcher dip into the cold water. The heat will cause all the water in the basin to be attracted into the pitcher and the [the steam] will start rotating the vane wheel again.”

About 80 years later, Giovanni Branca gave the description of a steam turbine in 1629. In 1648, about 100 years after Taqi al-Din, John Wilkins in his book 'Mathematical Magic' described a steam turbine for rotating a spit.