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Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī

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Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Fazari
Died796 or 806
possibly Baghdad
Occupation(s)Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer
EraIslamic Golden Age

Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Habib ibn Sulayman ibn Samra ibn Jundab[1] al-Fazari (Arabic: محمد بن إبراهيم بن حبيب بن سليمان بن سمرة بن جندب الفزاري) (died 796 or 806) was an Arab philosopher, mathematician and astronomer.[2][3][4]

Biography

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Al-Fazārī translated many scientific books into Arabic and Persian. He is credited to have built the first astrolabe in the Islamic world.[5] He died in 796 or 806, possibly in Baghdad.[6]

At the end of the 8th century, whilst at the court of the Abbasid Caliphate, al-Fazārī mentioned Ghana, "the land of gold."[7]

Works

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Along with Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq, al-Fazārī helped translate the 7th century Indian astronomical text by Brahmagupta, the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, into Arabic as 'Zij as-SindhindAz-Zīj ‛alā Sinī al-‛Arab,[8] or the Sindhind. This translation was possibly the vehicle by means of which the mathematical methods of Indian astronomers were transmitted to Islam.[9]

The caliph[which?] ordered al-Fazārī to translate the Indian astronomical text, The Sindhind, along with Yaʿqūb ibn Ṭāriq, which was completed in Baghdad about 750, and entitled Az-Zīj ‛alā Sinī al-‛Arab. This translation was possibly the vehicle by means of which the Hindu numeral system (the modern number notation) was transmitted from India to Iran.

Al-Fazari composed various astronomical writings ("On the astrolabe", "On the armillary spheres", "on the calendar").

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Samsó 2016.
  2. ^ Suter 1900, p. 4.
  3. ^ Sarton 1962, p. 524.
  4. ^ Montgomery 2000, p. 81.
  5. ^ Frye 2000, p. 163.
  6. ^ Plofker, Kim (2007). "Fazārī: Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Fazārī". Islamic Scientific Manuscripts Initiative. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  7. ^ Levtzion 1973, p. 3.
  8. ^ Kennedy 1956, pp. 2, 7, 12.
  9. ^ van Bladel 2015, p. 261.

Sources

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Further reading

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