A00018 - Ibn Abi Usaibia, Arab Physician and Historian

Ibn Abi Usaibia

Ibn Abi Usaibia, or Ibn Abi Usaybi'ah or Ibn Abi Usaybi'a, ( [1194] 1203-1270) (Arabic: ابن أبي أصيبعة موفق الدين أبو العباس أحمد بن القاسم بن خليفة الشعري الخزرجي‎, Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa Muʾaffaq al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Al-Qāsim Ibn Khalīfa al-Khazrajī) was an Arab physician, bibliographer and historian. He was born at Damascus, a descendant of the Banu Khazraj tribe and the son of an oculist, and studied medicine at Damascus and Cairo. In 1236 he was appointed physician to a new hospital in Cairo, but he surrendered the appointment the following year to take up a post given him by the amir of Damascus in Salkhad near that city. There he lived and died.

Ibn Abi Usaibia owes his fame to a collection of 380 biographies which are of value for the history of Arabic science.

Ibn Abi Usaibia wrote ʿUyūn ul-Anbāʾ fī Ṭabaqāt ul-Aṭibbāʾ (Arabic: عيون الأنباء في طبقات الأطباء‎), or Lives of the Physicians, which in its first edition (1245-1246) was dedicated to the vizier of Damascus. This he enlarged, though it is uncertain whether the new edition was made public in the lifetime of the author. A European edition was published by August Müller (Königsberg, 1884). This work is notable as a source for Aristotle's biography. Its material on Pythagoras' biography is included as an appendix.

A00017 - Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-'Ibadi

Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-‘Ibadi
Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-‘Ibadi (Hunayn ibn Ishaq) ('Abu Zayd Hunayn ibn 'Ishaq al-'Ibadi) (Hunain ibn Ishaq)  (Johannitius)  (b. 808, al-Ḥirah, near Baghdad, Iraq - d. 873, Baghdad) was a scientist and translator. He was the most important mediator of ancient Greek science to the Arabs. He is credited with an immense number of translations from Greek into Syriac and Arabic, among them those of Hippocrates and Galen. He also composed numerous original works, mainly on medical subjects, and had a special interest in ophthalmology.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq was a famous and influential Assyrian Nestorian Christian scholar, physician, and scientist, known for his work in translating scientific and medical works in Greek into Arabic and Syriac during the glory years of the Abbasid Caliphate. Ḥunayn ibn Isḥaq was the most productive translator of Greek medical and scientific treatises. He was originally from southern Iraq but he spent his working life in Baghdad, the center of the great ninth-century Greek-into-Arabic/Syriac translation movement. Impressively, Hunayn's translations did not require corrections at all. This perfection possibly came about because he mastered four languages: Arabic, Syriac, Greek and Persian. He studied Greek and became known among the Arabs as the "Sheikh of the translators." Hunayn’s method was widely followed by later translators.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq, in full Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi, Latin name Johannitius, was an Arab scholar whose translations of Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates, and the Neoplatonists made accessible to Arab philosophers and scientists the significant sources of Greek thought and culture.
Hunayn was a Nestorian Christian who studied medicine in Baghdad and became well versed in ancient Greek. He was appointed by Caliph al-Mutawakkil to the post of chief physician to the court, a position that he held for the rest of his life. He traveled to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to gather ancient Greek manuscripts, and, from his translators’ school in Baghdad, he and his students transmitted Arabic and (more frequently) Syriac versions of the classical Greek texts throughout the Islāmic world. Especially important are his translations of Galen, most of the original Greek manuscripts of which are lost.

A00016 - Hazarfen Ahmed Celebi

Hazarfen Ahmed Celebi

Hazarfen Ahmed Celebi (Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi) was a legendary Ottoman aviator of 17th-century Constantinople (present day Istanbul), purported in the writings of traveller Evliya Çelebi to have achieved sustained unpowered flight.
 

The title "Hazarfen" was given by Evliya Celebi to Ahmed Celebi. The title means "a thousand sciences.

The 17th century writings of Evliyâ Çelebi relate this story of Hazarfen Ahmed Çelebi, circa 1630-1632:

"First he practiced by flying over the pulpit of Okmeydanı eight or nine times with eagle wings, using the force of the wind. Then, as Sultan Murad Khan (Murad IV) was watching from the Sinan Pasha mansion at Sarayburnu, he flew from the very top of the Galata Tower and landed in the Doğancılar Square in Üsküdar, with the help of the south-west wind. Then Murad Khan granted him a sack of golden coins, and said: 'This is a scary man. He is capable of doing anything he wishes. It is not right to keep such people,' and thus sent him to Algeria on exile. He died there".

—Evliyâ Çelebi

A00015 - Harun al- Rashid, Fifth and Most Famous Abbasid Caliph Due to the "Thousand and One Nights"

Harun al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid (Harun ar-Rashid) (English: "Aaron the Upright," "Aaron the Just," or "Aaron the Rightly Guided") (March 17, 763 – March 24, 809). Fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph (r.786-809). He was the son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi (r. 775-785), and succeeded to the throne on the death of his brother al-Hadi (r. 785-786).

Thanks to the “Thousand and One Nights,” Harun al-Rashid is almost a legendary figure which obscures his true historic personality. In fact, his reign initiated the political disintegration of the Islamic empire.

Syria, inhabited by tribes with Umayyad sympathies, remained the bitter enemy of the ‘Abbasids and Egypt witnessed risings due to poor administration and arbitrary taxation. The Umayyads had been established in Spain in 755, the Idrisids in the Maghrib in 788 and the Aghlabids in Ifriqiya in 800. Besides, unrest flared up in Yemen, and the Kharijites rose in rebellion in Daylam, Kirman, Fars and Sistan. Revolts also broke out in Khurasan. A great part of Harun al-Rashid’s fame was due to his interest in Holy War against the Byzantines, in which he occasionally participated personally. From 791 to 809, Harun’s empire was at war with the Byzantine Empire, and in 807 his forces occupied the Byzantine province of Cyprus. He also paid attention to naval power.

The period of Harun al-Rashid’s reign marked a notable development of culture. Until 803, administrative power was entrusted to Yahya ibn-Khalid (d. about 803), the grand vizier, or councillor of state, and head of the illustrious family of the Barmakids. During this time, Baghdad, the capital of Harun’s realm, became the most flourishing city of the period. Tribute was paid to the caliph by many rulers, and splendid edifices were erected in his honor at enormous cost. He is said to have exchanged gifts with Charlemagne. However, Arabic sources do not substantiate that such an exchange ever occurred.

Harun was a generous patron of learning, poetry, and music, and his court was visited by the most eminent Muslims of the age. He was celebrated in countless songs and stories, and is perhaps best known to the Western world as the caliph whose court is described in the Arabian Nights. Toward the end of his reign, Harun was influenced to depose the Barmakids, and in 803 he imprisoned the grand vizier. 
Harun ruled from 786 to 809, and his time was marked by scientific, cultural and religious prosperity. Art and music also flourished significantly during his reign. He established the legendary library Bayt al-Hikma ("House of Wisdom").

Since Harun was intellectually, politically and militarily resourceful, his life and the court over which he held sway have been the subject of many tales: some are claimed to be factual but most are believed to be fictitious. Among what is known to be fictional is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which contains many stories that are fantasized about Harun's magnificent court and even Harun al-Rashid himself. 

The caliph virtually dismembered the empire by apportioning it between his two sons al-Amin and al-Ma’mun. The caliph died while on his way to put down an insurrection in the eastern part of his empire.
Harun ar-Rashid see Harun al-Rashid
“Aaron the Upright” see Harun al-Rashid
"Aaron the Just" see Harun al-Rashid
"Aaron the Rightly Guided"see Harun al-Rashid

A00014 - Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Harbi, Ninth Century Author of a Book on Bath House Protocol

Harbi
Harbi, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al- (Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Harbi) (9th century). Author of Al-Hammam and its Manners, a book on the appropriate protocol of bathing in hammams -- bath houses.

During the age of the Roman Empire, the Romans developed a bathing process. For the Romans, the bath was in an elaborate building complex, complete with a medium heated room or Tepidarium, a hot steam room or Caldarium, and a room with a cold plunge pool or Frigidarium. In some of the larger baths there were other sections with changing rooms called Apodyterium, a reading room and sports area. But these bathing centers were for the rich and political elite only.

With the demise of the Roman Empire, the bathing centers were abandoned. While these baths fell into disrepair as the Roman Empire lay in tatters, on the other side of the Mediterranean the Arabs, who had been under Roman rule in countries like Syria, inherited the tradition of using the bath. Instead of the waters becoming stagnant as the Romans left, the Arabs and then the Muslims gave them special promotion because of Islam's emphasis on cleanliness, hygiene and good health.

The bath house, or hammam, was a social place and it ranked high on the list of life's essentials. The Prophet Muhammad proclaimed that "cleanliness is half the faith." Hammams then were elaborate affairs with elegant designs, decor and ornamentation. Under the Mameluke and Ottoman rule, they were especially sumptuous buildings in their rich design and luxurious decorations, furnished with beautiful fountains and decorative pools.

The hammam was, and still is, a unique social setting for Muslim communities, playing an important role in the social activities of the community. As an intimate space of interaction for various social groups, it brought friends, neighbors, relatives and workers together regularly to undertake the washing ritual in a partying atmosphere. Group bonds strengthened, friendships rekindled and gossip was swapped. This therapeutic ritual was carried out by both men and women at separate times, with the women usually bathing in daylight and men in the evening and night.

The intrigue and sociability at the hammam did not just stop at scrubbing and gossip, as traditionally the setting played a significant role in matchmaking. In conservative communities such as those of North Africa, women who were looking for suitable brides for their sons would go to the hammam. Here they had the perfect opportunity to have a closer look at the bride to be and select the most physically fit.

It is also customary in many parts of the Muslim world for the new bride to be taken with her friends to the hammam, where she is prepared, groomed and adorned in stylized designs with henna, the herbal paste that leaves a reddish/brown color on the hair, hands and feet. The groom is also escorted there the night before he meets his bride.

The art of bathing in hammams is guided by many rules, such as: men must always be covered in "lower" garments, and women are forbidden to enter if men are present. Quite a few books have been written about the art of bathing in hammams, including Al-Hammam and its Manners from the 9th century by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Harbi.

A00013 - Yaqut ibn 'Abdullah al-Rumi al-Hamawi, Thirteenth Century Biographer and Geographer

Hamawi, Yaqut ibn 'Abdullah al-Rumi al-
Yaqut ibn 'Abdullah al-Rumi al-Hamawi (1179–1229) (Arabic: ياقوت الحموي الرومي‎) was an Islamic biographer and geographer renowned for his encyclopedic writings on the Muslim world. "al-Rumi" ("from Rûm") refers to his Greek (Byzantine) descent; "al-Hamawi" is taken after Hama, Syria, and ibn-Abdullah is a reference to his father's name, Abdullah. The word yāqūt means ruby or hyacinth.

Yaqut was working as a slave to a trader, Askar ibn Abi Nasr al-Hamawi, who lived in Baghdad, Iraq. His master taught him accounting and trading and sent him to trade on his behalf. He later freed him of his obligations and that enabled Yaqut to dedicate himself to his scholarly tasks. He was one of the last scholars who had access to the libraries east of the Caspian Sea before the Mongol invasion of Central Asia. He travelled to the peaceful scholarly city of ancient Merv in present-day Turkmenistan. There Yaqut spent two years in libraries, learning much of the knowledge he would later use in his works. Yaqut spend the last few years of his life in Aleppo and died there.
The works of al-Hamawi include the following:

• Kitāb mu'jam al-buldān (معجم البلدان "Dictionary of Countries")
• Mu'jam al-udabā', (معجم الأدباء "Dictionary of Writers") written in 1226.
• al-Mushtarak wadh'ā wal-Muftaraq Sa'qā (المشترک وضعا والمفترق صعقا ), a version of which was printed in 1845 by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld.
  • Al-Mushtarik

A00012 - Al-Hakam II ibn 'Abd al-Rahman III, Tenth Century Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba

Hakam II
Hakam II ( al-Hakam II al-Mustansir ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman III) (Al-Hakam II ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III) (January 13, 915 - October 16, 976). Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba (r.961-976). He enlarged and embellished the Great Mosque of Cordoba, and gradually became the suzerain of all the Christian princes of the north. In 966, the Normans made a new attempt to land in Spain. Al-Hakam’s reign was one of the most peaceful and fruitful of the Cordoban dynasty.

Al-Hakam II succeeded to the Caliphate after the death of his father Abd ar-Rahman III in 961. He secured peace with the Christian kingdoms of northern Iberia, and made use of the stability to develop agriculture through the construction of irrigation works. Economical development was also encouraged through the widening of streets and the building of markets.

He was fond of books and learning, and amassed a vast library with 400,000 books (this was sacked in the Berber siege of Cordoba in 1100). He even sent his agents to purchase 'first edition' books from the Muslim east, such asKitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs) by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani.

During his reign, a massive translation effort was undertaken, and many books were translated from Latin and Greek into Arabic. He formed a joint committee of Arab Muslims and Iberian Mozarab Christians for this task.

His building works included an expansion of the main mosque of Cordoba (962-966), the Mezquita, and the completion of the Royal residence Medina Azahara (976), which Abd ar-Rahman III had begun in 936.

As well, the famous physician, scientist, and surgeon Abu al-Qasim (Abulcasis) was active in Al-Hakam's court during his reign.

Whilst the internal administration was left increasingly to the Vizir Al-Mushafi, General Ghalib was gradually gaining influence as leader of the army. He was chiefly pre-occupied with repulsing the last Norman attacks (966, 971), and with the struggle against the Zirids and the Fatimids in northern Morocco. The Fatimids were defeated in Morocco in 974, while Al-Hakam II was able to maintain the supremacy of the Caliphate over the Christian states of Navarre, Castile and Leon.

In his youth his loves seem to have been entirely homosexual. He was known to have openly kept a male harem. This exclusivity was a problem, since it was essential to produce an heir. A resolution was reached by his taking a concubine who dressed in boys' clothes and was give the masculine name of Jafar.

He was succeeded by his son, Hisham II al-Mu'ayad, who was a nominal ruler under the Hajib (Grand Vizier) al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir.

al-Hakam II al-Mustansir ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman III see Hakam II
Al-Hakam II ibn 'Abd al-Rahman IIIsee Hakam II