Shining History :Medieval Islamic Civilization

The Dictionary of Countries by Yaqut – 13th Century

2010-05-30T05:17:00.000-07:00

‘Kitab mu'jam al-Buldan’ (The Dictionary of Countries) was a big geographical encyclopedia, with several thousand entries, written in 13th century by Yaqut al-Hamawi al-Rumi al-Baghdadi (1179-1229).

Mujam-al-Buldan contains the geographical names in alphabetical order. The listing includes the names of various countries, towns, mountains, rivers, seas, valleys, monuments and grave sites. For each entry, wherever applicable, Yaqut provides the various variants of the name, etymology, precise pronunciation (for Baghdad, as an example, the book provides seven different pronunciations), spelling, longitude and latitude, population, renowned scholars, mention of the place in Quran and Hadith, history, and customs. The book not only provides relevant geographical information, but is a great resource of history and literature as well. It contains numerous anecdotes and over 5000 poetic quotations. According to George Satron , in the 'Introduction to the History of Science’:

“The Mujam al Buldan is one of the most important works of Arabic literature. It is a store house of information not simply on geography, but also on history, ethnography and natural history. It is preceded by an introduction dealing with mathematical, physical and political geography, the size of the earth, seven climates, etc.”

Yaqut decided to write this geographical encyclopedia after he attended a gathering of Imam al-Samani where people disagreed on the correct pronounciation of an Arabic place mentioned in a Hadeeth. He traveled widely studying the customs and geography of various places including Merv, Mosul, Aleppo, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq.

The introduction of Al-Buldan is very insightful where yaqut discusses the importance of geography for poets, rulers, physicians, Hadith scholars and administrators . He also explains the geographical, astronomical and economical terminology and discusses the shape of the earth (spherical).

Al-Buldan quotes and provides references of the works of prior historians and geographers as well. A very important reference is that of the 10th century Geographer Al-hasan bin Mohammad Al-Misri Al-Muhallabi who had written a geographical book ‘Kitab Al-Aziz’ that is now entirely lost and is known only through the works of Al-Hamawi besides that of Al-Fida.

A few lines from one of the entries of Mujam-al-Buldan:

“Al-Tibr: One of the countries of Sudan known as Bilad al-Tibr. Pure gold is ascribed to it. It is situated south of the Maghrib. Merchants travel from Sijilmasa to a town on the frontiers of the Sudan, called Ghana. Their wares are salt, bundles of pine wood (this is one of the kinds of woods from which tar is made, but its smell is not unpleasant, being more aromatic than rank, blue glass beads, bracelets of copper, bangles and signet rings of copper, and nothing else. All this is carried by numerous camels in heavy loads ……….”

Mujam-al-Buldan was translated and published in 6 volumes in Leipzig (Germany) between 1666- 1873 by the German Historian, Ferdinand Wustenfeld .

Yaqut also wrote another encyclopedia ‘Mu'jam al-udaba' , (The Dictionary of Learned Men) in 1226. The length of both these encyclopedia, combined, is 33,180 pages!

The Precursor of Braille

2010-05-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

Braille, the system of reading and writing for blinds, was invented by Loius Braille in the 19th century. The precursor of Braille was developed by a Syrian scholar, Zain Din al Amidi, several centuries earlier.

In the 14th century, Zain Din al Amidi, who had become blind in childhood, developed his own system for reading and writing by the sense of touch. He was a professor at the university 'Mustansiriya Madrasahin', Baghdad, established in 1227 by caliph Al-Mustansir. His area of interests were jurisprudence and foreign languages. Al-Amidi died in 1314.

Selections: 'Muqaddimah' by Ibn Khaldun - Taxation

2010-02-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

Ibn Khaldun (1332 - 1406), an African Polymath, is considered as a forerunner of modern Economics, Demography, Cultural History, Historiography, the Philosophy of History, and Sociology. 'Muqaddimah' (known as 'Prolegomenon' in the West) was written in 1377 by Ibn Khaldun. Following is from translation of Muqaddimah by Franz Rosenthal.
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Taxation and the reason for low and high (tax revenues).

It should be known that at the beginning of the dynasty, taxation yields a large revenue from small assessments. At the end of the dynasty, taxation yields a small revenue from large assessments.

The reason for this is that when the dynasty follows the ways (sunan) of the religion, it imposes only such taxes as are stipulated by the religious law, such as charity taxes, the land tax, and the poll tax. They mean small assessments, because, as everyone knows, the charity tax on property is low. The same applies to the charity tax on grain and cattle, and also to the poll tax, the land tax, and all other taxes required by the religious law. They have fixed limits that cannot be overstepped.

When the dynasty follows the ways of group feeling and (political) superiority, it necessarily has at first a desert attitude, as has been mentioned before. The desert attitude requires kindness, reverence, humility, respect for the property of other people, and disinclination to appropriate it, except in rare instances. Therefore, the individual imposts and assessments, which together constitute the tax revenue, are low. When tax assessments and imposts upon the subjects are low, the latter have the energy and desire to do things. Cultural enterprises grow and increase, because the low taxes bring satisfaction. When cultural enterprises grow, the number of individual imposts and assessments mounts. In consequence, the tax revenue, which is the sum total of (the individual assessments), increases.

When the dynasty continues in power and their rulers follow each other in succession, they become sophisticated. The Bedouin attitude and simplicity lose their significance, and the Bedouin qualities of moderation and restraint disappear. Royal authority with its tyranny, and sedentary culture that stimulates sophistication, make their appearance. The people of the dynasty then acquire qualities of character related to cleverness. Their customs and needs become more varied because of the prosperity and luxury in which they are immersed. As a result, the individual imposts and assessments upon the subjects, agricultural laborers, farmers, and all the other taxpayers, increase. Every individual impost and assessment is greatly increased, in order to obtain a higher tax revenue. Customs duties are placed upon articles of commerce and (levied) at the city gates, as we shall mention later on. Then, gradual increases in the amount of the assessments succeed each other regularly, in correspondence with the gradual increase in the luxury customs and many needs of the dynasty and the spending required in connection with them. Eventually, the taxes will weigh heavily upon the subjects and overburden them. Heavy taxes become an obligation and tradition, because the increases took place gradually, and no one knows specifically who increased them or levied them. They lie upon the subjects like an obligation and tradition.

The assessments increase beyond the limits of equity. The result is that the interest of the subjects in cultural enterprises disappears, since when they compare expenditures and taxes with their income and gain and see the little profit they make, they lose all hope. Therefore, many of them refrain from all cultural activity. The result is that the total tax revenue goes down, as (the number of) the individual assessments goes down. Often, when the decrease is noticed, the amounts of individual imposts are increased. This is considered a means of compensating for the decrease. Finally, individual imposts and assessments reach their limit. It would be of no avail to increase them further. The costs of all cultural enterprise are now too high, the taxes are too heavy, and the profits anticipated fail to materialize. Thus, the total revenue continues to decrease, while the amounts of individual imposts and assessments continue to increase, because it is believed that such an increase will compensate (for the drop in revenue) in the end. Finally, civilization is destroyed, because the incentive for cultural activity is gone. It is the dynasty that suffers from the situation, because it (is the dynasty that) profits from cultural activity.

If (the reader) understands this, he will realize that the strongest incentive for cultural activity is to lower as much as possible the amounts of individual imposts levied upon persons capable of undertaking cultural enterprises. In this manner, such persons will be psychologically disposed to undertake them, because they can be confident of making a profit from them.

God owns all things.

The Excavation of Hidden Waters by al-Karaji

2010-01-31T03:51:00.000-08:00

'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.

The Band-i-Amir Dam – 10th century

2010-01-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

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.

Selections: Al-Kindi's Philosophy -1

2010-01-11T02:04:00.000-08:00

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"

Arithmetization of Algebra

2010-01-04T03:56:00.000-08:00

Al-Karaji (953 -1029), a Persian Muslim mathematician and engineer, is regarded as the first mathematician who laid the foundation of ‘Arithmetization of Algebra’ i.e. application of elementary arithmetic procedures to algebraic expressions, as is done in modern elementary Algebra, and thus free Algebra from geometric operations. Al-Samawal (12^th century), one of al-Karaji's successors, gave the first formal definition of Arithmetization of Algebra as :

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

Al-Karaji wrote several books, some of his well-known works are: ‘Al-Badi' fi'l-hisab’ (Wonderful on calculation), ‘Al-Fakhri fi'l-jabr wa'l-muqabala’ (Glorious on algebra), ‘Al-Kafi fi'l-hisab’ (Sufficient on calculation) and ‘Inbat al-miyah al-khafiya’ (The Extraction of Hidden Waters).

Al-Karaji was first to define the monomials x, x², x³, ... and 1/x, 1/x², 1/x³, ... and he gave rules for products of any two of these. He also provided the fundamental rules of algebraic operations:

(+).(+)=(+) ; (+).(-)=(-) ; (-).(+)=(-) ; (-).(-)=(+)

For polynomials, he formulated various rules:

ax^m– bx^m = (a - b)x^m; if a>b

ax^m– bx^m = - (b - a)x^m; if a

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: Gulistan of Saadi

2009-12-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

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

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you have no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain.

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

2009-12-07T02:49:00.000-08:00

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

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bassin_Aghlabides.jpg

Bookshops during the Medieval Islamic Civilization

2009-11-30T19:02:00.000-08:00

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."

The Travels of Al-Masudi

2009-11-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

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 Book of Simple Drugs and Food by Al-Baitar – 13th Century

2009-11-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

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.

Ibn al-Baytar sculpture, Malaga, Spain
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibn_al-Baytar.jpg]

The Book of Plants - 9th Century

2009-11-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

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.

Plagiarism

2009-11-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

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.

The World's First Beauty Parlor

2009-10-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

The world's first beauty parlor/cosmetology school was opened by Ziryab in the 9th century in Cordoba, the capital of spain, during the medieval islamic civilization . Cordoba, along with Baghdad, was considered as one of the major centres of intellectual and cultural activities during middle ages.

Ziryab was born in baghdad, Iraq in 787 AD and was of African descent. His real name was Abu Al-Hasan Ali Ibn Nafi and was lovingly called Ziryab, which means 'Black Bird' in Arabic, due to his extremely melodious voice, dark skin and pleasant speech. Ziryab arrived in Spain in 822AD and joined the court of Cordoba at a magnificent monthly salary of 200 gold dinars, annual bonuses amounting to 2500 gold dinars and many other benefits.

Ziryab, in addition to being a great musician [details on his musical chievements later], was a trendsetter and a fashion icon for the upper class of the Cordoba. He introduced new styles of seasonal clothing and personal grooming and revolutionized the art of dining [details in another post]. According to Louie Provencal, the famous historian of Spanish civilization:

“ [Ziryab ] was a genius and his influence in Spanish society of the time not only encompassed music but also all aspects of society.”

Ziryab opened the world's first beauty parlor/cosmetology school in cordoba in 9th century, for women, where he introduced a new hair style for women that was considered quite daring at that time. The women of spain at that time parted their hair in the middle with ears covered and used to have a long braid at the back. Ziryab's new hair style had hair cut into bangs on the forehead and the length was shorter with ears uncovered. At the parlor, chemical depilatories were used to remove body hairs. He also invented a new type of deodorant that, unlike the previous deodorants, didn't leave stains.

The 16th century historian al-Maqqari described Zaryab in his well-renowned book 'Nafh al-tib' (The Perfumed Breath):

"There never was a man of his profession, either before or since, who was so unanimously loved and admired. Even in the twilight years of the kingdom of Granada, which fell in 1492, poets were still finding in his glory a subject for their songs."

The famous Spanish composer and guitarist, Paco de Lucía, dedicated his entire album 'Zyryab' (1990) to Ziryab.

Determination of the Earth's Circumference through Mathematics

2009-10-18T03:11:00.000-07:00

Various attempts to determine the circumference of the earth were made, during the ancient Greek and Indian civilizations, that required sighting of the sun simultaneously from two diffrent locations. Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad Biruni (often referred to as 'al-Biruni') [973-1048] was the first scientist to provide a mathematical solution for determining the circumference of the earth.

During the medieval Islamic Civilization , prior to Al-biruni, the first successful attempt to determine the circumference of earth was carried out in the early 9th century on the desire of Caliph Al-mamun. In 820 AD, Al-mamun sent a team of astronomers in the desert of Sinjar (in Iraq) that performed the survey and estimated that one degree of earth was equivalent to 56 2/3 Arab miles. Conversion of this value gives the circumference of earth as 39, 986 km .......... quite close to the modern value of 40,075 km (circumference if measured around the equator).

Al-biruni descibed the above incident in his astronomical encyclopaedia 'Al-Qanun Al-Musudi'. He devised a new method to detrmine circumference which he described in his work 'Kitab Tahdid al-Amakin' i.e.Book of Determination of the Location (thanks to Hicham Maged [http://blog.hichamaged.net] for providing the translation in the comment below) as:

"Here is another method for the determination of the circumference of the earth. It does not require walking in deserts."

Al-biruni's method used the following trignometric equation to determine the radius of the earth that required observing the distant horizon from a mountain peak.

R= h cos d /(1-cos d)

R: Radius of the earth
h: Height of the mountain
d: Angle of dip

The details of this method are present in his book 'Kitab Tahdid al-Amakin'. He had constructed his own astrolobe to measure the height of mountains. Al-Biruni found the radius of the earth to be 6,339.9 km. The
circumference,according to his method, is 39,835 km quite close to the present accepted value.

Al-Birunis' method can be considered as one of the earliest examples of application of trignometry to real-world problems. He is, therefore, regarded as the 'Father of Geodesy' (Geodesy ~ Mathematical Geography).

Professor John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson in 'The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive':

"Important contributions to geodesy and geography were also made by al-Biruni. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using triangulation. He found the radius of the earth to be 6339.6 km, a value not obtained in the West until the 16th century. His Masudic canon contains a table giving the coordinates of six hundred places, almost all of which he had direct knowledge."

World's First Paper Mill

2009-10-04T04:08:00.000-07:00

As early as the second century, the Chinese knew the art of paper making. The Muslims learned it from the Chinese in the 8th century, made improvements and developed paper making from an art into an industry.

The world's first first paper mill was thus established in Samarqand in 751. The papermill was water-powered and linen or flax was used as raw material. Trip Hammers, powered by water wheels, were used to pound the raw materials. Soon after the establishment of the papermill in Samarqand, many more paper mills were established in Baghdad during the 8th century due to the high demand of books . From there, paper mills began being established in other parts of the world. Europe had its first paper mill established in Italy in 1261. Paper thus started replacing the costly parchment, papyrus and wood that were earlier being used for writing.

Fig 1: Five Steps in Ancient Chinese Paper Making

First Correct Vision Theory

2009-09-27T03:35:00.000-07:00

In the ancient Greek civilization, it was believed that sight was possible because eyes emitted light rays. Ibn al-Haytham , the 10th century muslim scientist, was the first to correctly state that vision results from the rays of light entering eyes from the each point on an object.

Ibn al-Haytham's full name was Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (965 - 1039) and he is commonly known in the west by his latinized names: Alhazen, Alhacen, or Alhazenihas. He is regarded as the 'Father of Modern optics' and the 'Founder of Experimental physics' due to his enormous contributions in these areas. He is also given the credit of being the pioneer of modern scientific method as he was the first to introduce the modern scientific procedures of analyzing a problem (more on this in a future post). One of Al-Haytham's famous work was 'Kitab Al-Manazir' (The Book of Optics), a seven volume treatise related to optics and vision, in which for each of his hypothesis he either performed a physical test or presented mathematical proofs.

Before Al-Haytham, there were basically two theories of vision: according to the first theory, put forward initially by Euclid and and later supported by Ptolemy, eyes emitted rays of light. The second theory was that of Aristoltle who believed that an object being looked at alters the medium between itself and the eye by sending some sort of force to the eye. Al-Haythem rejcted both these theories and stated that vision was possible because of rays of light traveling from visible objects to the eye. This is now known as modern intromission theory of vision.

Al-Haytham also gave the anatomy of eye and was the first scientist to state that brain and not the eye was responsible for the perception of image.

According to the Historian Ian P Howard in 'Alhazen's neglected discoveries of visual phenomena' on 'Books of Optics':

"Book I [of seven volume Book of Optics] deals with optics, the structure of the eye, image formation in the eye, and with the visual pathways. This book inspired all other books on optics from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century and formed the basis upon which Kepler solved the problem of image formation. However, Alhazen's work contained in Books II and III has been almost totally ignored. These two books contain an account of hundreds of observations and experiments carried out by Alhazen on a broad range of topics which are now studied under the heading of visual perception. He clearly enunciated many of the fundamental principles which are credited to scientists living in the past two hundred years, including a theory of unconcious inference; the law of equal innervation of the eye muscles; the principles of binocular direction; constancy of size, shape, and colour; induced visual motion; the vertical horopter; the fusional range of binocular disparity; and many others."

Fig.1: Eye Diagram from 'Book of Optics'

Correspondence between Ibn Sina and Al-Biruni

2009-09-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

Ibn Sina (980 - 1037CE) and Al-Biruni (973 - 1048 CE), two of the greatest scientists during the medieval Islamic civilization, had an intellectual correspondence that was started by Al-Biruni asking Ibn Sina a few questions related to Philosophy, Astronomy and Physics. This interesting debate was translated in english by Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar Iqbal and published as a series of articles in 'Islam & Science', with Thomson Gale as publisher.

Al-Biruni began this debate by qutestioning certain Aristotle's theories. Ibn Sina replied in a scholarly manner but Al-Biruni was not satisfied with his answers. Al-Biruni replied back criticzing each answer that he had received by giving his own logical arguments and at the same time asking him further questions. This exchange of letters resulted in a written debate in which Al-Biruni asked Ibn Sina a total of 18 questions. In the later stages, Ibn Sina asked one of his prominent student, Ahmad ibn Ali al-Masumi to reply on his behalf.

As an example, following is an initial exchange of questions/answers between these two great polymaths related to Vision.

Al-Biruni:

How is vision possible? Why can we see beneath water whereas the ray of vision reflects off opaque bodies and the surface of water is opaque?

Ibn Sina:

According to Aristotle, vision is not the result of the rays coming out of the eye; that is Plato's view. Although, upon examination, one finds that there is no [real] difference between the sayings of the two, for Plato said this for the commoners in their slang. This has been explained by Shaikh Abu Nasr al-Farabi this in his book al-Jam bayna Ra'yain al-Hakimin (The Concordance Between the Opinions of the Two Wise Ones). In Aristotle's opinion, vision results from the contact of the vitreous humor(al-ratubatul jalidiyyah) of the eye with the transparent surface; [upon contact, vitreous humor] picks up the colors that are facing it at the parallel point of the body of which the color is the property. Since the vitreous humor is transparent, it would change and react to this color. And when this gelatinous substance changes, it becomes the instrument through which the faculty of vision perceives, this faculty recognizes the reaction that occurs and that is how vision becomes possible. There are more details about it in the commentaries on Book II of Kitab al-Nafs (On the Soul) by the Philosopher and [in the commentaries] on his Kitab al-Hiss (Sense and Sensibilia). So if that was that, and [since] water and air are transparent bodies presenting the nature of colors to the senses, doubt should disappear.

Al-Biruni:

Your answer presented Aristotle's definition of the vision but not the explanation, and sometimes the definition of a thing requires many different interpretations. According to what you said, the one who sees would not be able to distinguish between dimensions, and [as such] he will perceive small [objects] nearby to be identical to large distant [objects]; and so too would be the case with sounds: loud sounds further away would be heard just as would quiet sounds closer by, the listener being unable to distinguish between the different sounds from their sources. If the transparent [body] were affected by color, then a glass stained with black on one side when looked upon through any other side--except from the side opposite to the blackened side--should look black. The question was not about perception of what is under the surface of water, but I had asked [rather] about the understanding of how vision penetrates based upon the understanding of reflection of the rays simultaneously under the surface of water.

Ibn Sina and and later his student had replied again, and in much more detail, to the criticism above. The purpose of quoting here this initial correspondence, related to vision, was simply to get a glimpse of the analytical approaches of the two great minds.

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

2009-09-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Ibn Sina was a tenth century Muslim scientist who had made major contributions in many diverse areas - from Medicine, Psychology and Pharmacology to Geology, Astronomy,Physics, Chemistry and Philosophy ... a true polymath! The lunar crater ‘Avicenna’ and the mountain peak ‘Ibn Sina Peak’ are named in his honor.

This is the first post in the series where highlights of major contributions of individual scientists are provided. I'm thankful to Tricia who had shown interest and suggested that details should also be provided.

The following contributions are only the ones that Historians have been able to find from Ibn Sina's 240 surviving books out of a total of 450 books written by him. To find more about the causes of destruction of many great works please read the post 'Pubic Libraries in the Medieval Islamic World ' .

Fig. 1: Image of Ibn Sina in Medieval Manuscript 'Subtilties of Truth' dated 1271

Full Name: Abu Ali al-Ḥusayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina

Latin Name: Avicenna

Period: 980 - 1037CE

Areas of Contributions: Medicine, Pharmacology, Philosophy, Chemistry, Astronomy, Music, Physics, Geology, Psychology, Poetry and Engineering

Total Number of Books: 450

Most Famous Books:

'Al-Qanun fi’l-tibb' - The Canon of Medicine (14 volume medical encyclopedia with over one million words!)
'Kitab al-Shifa' - The Book of Cure or The Book of Completion (scientific and philosophical encyclopedia)
'Fi aqsam al-ulum al-'aqliyyah' -Classification of the Rational Sciences

Regarded as: Father of Modern Medicine. Father of Clinical Pharmacology and Father of Geology due to his founding contributions in these areas.

Major Contributions

MEDICINE:

Separation of medicine from pharmacology
Discovery of sexually transmitted diseases
First detailed description of skin problems, perversions and nervous ailments
Introduction of systematic experimentation and quantification into the study of physiology
First description of Meningitis
First known treatment of cancer. Discovery of cancer as a tumor. Related Post
Discovery of the causes of bleeding and hemorrhage
First descriptions of bacteria and viral organisms
Description of working of heart as a valve
First diagrams of the cranial sutures
Discovered that madness is a disorder of reason with its origin in the middle part of the brain (unlike Medieval physicians in Europe who believed that Demonic Possession was the explanation for the mental illnesses and as such as late as till 18th century mentally ill patients were subjected to many tortuous inhuman treatments that included whipping,bloodletting and starvation. Related post )
Introduction of quarantine for contagious diseases
Identification of tuberculosis and phthisis as contagious
First description of the surgical procedure of intubation
Distinguished anatomy from medicine
Discovered the cerebellar vermis and the caudate nucleus (Neuroanatomy)
Gave correct descriptions, for the first time, on the physiology of eye movements, conjuctive sclera, cornea, choroid, optic nerves, iris, and central and peripheral facial paralyses - still used in modern Opthomology
Discovery of the healing property of gaseous mercury
First correct explanation of pulsation
Put forward new methods for hepatitis treatment
Provided a number of new methods for Inhalation and Oral anesthesia. Related Post
First explained the distribution of diseases by water and soil
Diagnosis of diseases using only the methods of feeling the pulse and observing inhalation
Described diabetes insipidus very precisely for the first time
Provided the distinction of mediastinitis from pleurisyo .

PHARMACOLOGY:

Laid down the principles for testing the effectiveness of new drugs and medications that form the basis of clinical pharmacology, clinical trials, randomized controlled trials and efficacy tests.
The Canon lists 760 tested drugs describing their pharmaceutical actions and properties. Many were his own contributions while for the rest he gave credit where due.

PSYCHOLOGY:

Pioneer of neuropsychiatry. First described the neuropsychiatric conditions of hallucination, insomnia, mania, rabies, nightmare, melancholia, dementia, epilepsy, paralysis, stroke, vertigo and tremor and provided treatment methods
Described melancholia (depression) as a type of mood disorder in which the person may become suspicious and develop certain types of phobias
Developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings

GEOLOGY

First to emphasize the role of sedimentary and erosive phenomena in the formation of mountains
First to present the fundamental principles of Geology that later became known in Europe as ‘Doctrine of Uniformitarianism’,’ law of superposition of strata’ and ‘Concept of Catastrophism’

ASTRONOMY:

Criticized Aristotle's view of the stars receiving their light from the Sun. Ibn Sina stated that the stars are self-luminous
Concluded that Venus is closer to the Earth than the Sun
Solved the equant problem in the Ptolemaic model

PHYSICS:

Developed a detailed theory of motion. The concept of inertia put forward in this theory was consistent to that given by Isaac Newton about seven centuries later in his famous first law of motion
Considered pioneer in putting forward the concept of momentum that is part of Newton’s second law of motion.
Invented air thermometer to measure the relative hotness and coldness of dry air
Stated that if the perception of light is due to the emission of some sort of particles by a luminous source, the speed of light must be finite

CHEMISTRY:

Invention of steam distillation
Invention of refrigerated coil
One of the first to refute alchemy. Four of his works on this subject were translated into Latin

PHILOSOPHY:

Wrote more than 150 treatises on Philosophy
Founder of ‘Avicennism’ – a school of thought of Islamic Philosophy that had an influence on later European Philosophers including William of Auvergne, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas. In Paris, however, Avicennism was proscribed in the early thirteenth century.
Developed an early theory on ‘hypothetical syllogism’
Developed an original theory on temporal modal syllogism
Developed an early theory on ‘propositional calculus’
First to describe the methods of ‘agreement, difference and concomitant variation’ that are part of Mill’s methods.
Wrote the first criticisms of ‘Aristotelian logic’
Wrote a number of treatises on Islamic theology in which he gave scientific and philosophical interpretations of Quran

MUSIC:

Belived that music had both physical as well as psychological effect on patients
Followed Al-Kindi in classification of Music as a branch of Mathematics. Translated title of his book on Music is, therefore, ‘Chapter three of the mathematical sciences which is on the science of music’.
Observed that in the series of consonances represented by (n + 1)/n, the ear is unable to distinguish them when n = 45

ENGINEERING:

First to classify five constituent simple machines - lever, pulley, screw, wedge, and windlass - and their combinations
First correct description of 'Mechanism'

POETRY:

Various verses written by him are present in many of his works. These are written in Arabic as well as in persian.

OTHERS:

Ibn Sina had memorized the Qur'an by the age of seven.

The historian George Sarton, who is regarded as 'Father of History of Science', wrote in his famous work 'Introduction to the History of Science:

"One of the most famous exponents of Muslim universalism and an eminent figure in Islamic learning was Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna (981-1037). For a thousand years he has retained his original renown as one of the greatest thinkers and medical scholars in history."

Fig.2: 'The Canon of Medicine' - The image is from a rare copy made in Iran in the 15th century.

The Book of Animals by Al-Jahiz - 9th Century

2009-09-06T01:07:00.000-07:00

The Book of Animals ('Kitab al-Hayawan'), written by Al-Jahiz in the 9th century, is one of his most famous works. It is a seven volume book, described by many as an encyclopedia, that mentions over 350 varieties of animals. This book is most famous for describing the theory of evolution about 1000 years before Charles Darwin.

The 'Book of Animals' is quite unique as it has both lierarary as well as scientific value. The book contains anthology of animal anecdotes, proverbs and poetry and is considered a fine example of arabic prose. At the same time, the 'Book of animals' is famous for the following scientific contributions:

First known scientific attempt of classification of animals.
First description of the concept of food chain giving detailed examples.
Discussion of the social behavior, psychology and degree of intelligence in animals.
First description of the theory of biological evolution that beame foundation for many later theories. He based his theory of evolution on three mechanisms: Struggle for Existence, Transformation of Species into each other and Environmental Factors.

In 'The Book of Animals', Al-Jahiz wrote:

"Animals engage in a struggle for existence [and] for resources, to avoid being eaten and to breed.... Environmental factors influence organisms to develop newcharacteristics to ensure survival, thus transforming into new species. Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to [their] offspring."

Consequently, this book had a great influence on later scientists including Darwin.According to Historian Dr.Mehmet Bayrakdar:

"Indeed, Darwan and his precursors took up the theory of al-Jahiz as the base for the essentiality of their evolutionary theories and they formulated it in a more scientific way in the context of eighteenth and nineteenth centuries development of science."

Image from The Book of Animals of al-Jahiz. Arabian Ostrich

Now, the unauthentic part: I came accross a post in a discussion forum where the member had written that his history teacher herself had gone to the British National Library and discovered that there was only one copy of al-Jahiz's work in their collection and that too was missing. After checking the records, she discovered that the last person to whom the book was issued was Charles Darwin - who never returned it! If any of the readers have access to the British National Library and could please verify it, this would be of great help in finding the truth. Thanks.

Love of Books - An example

2009-08-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

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.

Travels of Ibn Battuta

2009-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

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."

World's First Mechanical Musical Instrument

2009-08-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Invention of Steam Turbine

2009-08-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

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.