A universal genius

in Central Asia

a thousand years ago

astronomer

historian
botanist
pharmacologist
geologist
poet
philosopher
mathematician
geographer
humanist
 Bronze defiance in Venice

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TREASURES bronze horses have snorted defiance through nearly 24 centuries. Attributed to the
famous 4th century B.C. Greek sculptor Lysippus, they graced the Trajan Forum in
Rome until the Emperor Constantine moved them to Constantinople in the 4th century
A.D. In 1204, the Doge Enrico Dándolo had them shipped to Venice, where they stood
WORLD ART over the portal of St. Mark's till 1797 when Napoleon Bonaparte took them to Paris, to
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to St. Mark's. Today the preservation of Venice, threatened not only by the ravages
ITALY of time but also by flooding, pollution and industrialization, is the object of an inter¬
national campaign launched by Unesco in 1966. In 1973 the Italian Parliament endorsed
Unesco's initiative by voting 450 millions dollars for the protection of the city.
 Courier
Page

JUNE 1974
AL-BIRUNI
27TH YEAR
A universal genius who lived in Central Asia
a thousand years ago
PUBLISHED IN 15 LANGUAGES
By Bobojan Gafurov

English Arabic Hebrew 10 THE LONG ODYSSEY

French Japanese Persian
In the footsteps of a Muslim scholar
Spanish Italian Dutch
By Jacques Boilot
Russian Hindi Portuguese
German Tamil Turkish 14 THE NINE-DOMED MOSQUE OF BALKH
Photo report
Published monthly by UNESCO
The United Nations 16 A PIONEER OF SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION
Educational, Scientific
By Mohammed Salim-Atchekzai
and Cultural Organization
"

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30 LOST HORIZONS IN THE LAND OF POETRY
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32 'FATHER' OF ARABIC PHARMACY
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37 MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN

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René Caloz

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Editors
Managing Editors
English Edition : Ronald Fenton (Paris)
French Edition : Jane Albert Hesse (Paris)
Spanish Edition : Francisco Fernández-Santos (Paris)
Russian Edition : Georgi Stetsenko (Paris)
German Edition : Werner Merkli (Berne)
Arabic Edition : Abdel Moneim El Sawi
(Cairo)
Japanese Edition :
Kazuo Akao (Tokyo)
Italian Edition : Maria Remiddi (Rome)
Hindi Edition : Ramesh Bakshi (Delhi)
Tamil Edition : N.D. Sundaravadivelu (Madras)
Hebrew Edition : Alexander Peli (Jerusalem)
Persian Edition : Fereydoun Ardalan (Teheran)
Dutch Edition : Paul Morren (Antwerp)
Portuguese Edition : Benedicto Silva (Rio de Janeiro)
Turkish Edition : Mefra Telci (Istanbul)

Assistant Editors
French Edition : Philippe Ouannès
Spanish Edition : Jorge Enrique Adoum
Illustrations : Anne-Marie Maillard
Al-Biruni as he may have looked in his
Research : Christiane Boucher
prime. An imaginary portrait to mark
Layout and Design : Robert Jacquemin the thousandth anniversary of the birth
of the great Islamic scholar in 973.
All correspondence should be addressed to
the Editor-in-Chief in Paris Photo © APN
Few periods in man's history can boast the existence of one of those
rare intellectual giants whose genius not only embraces the knowledge
of his time but reaches out to uncharted, unknown frontiers. Such a
man was al-Biruni, born a thousand years ago, who ranks among the
greatest scholars of the Islamic world: Astronomer, mathematician,
physicist, geographer, historian, linguist, ethnologist, pharmacologist
as well as poet, novelist and philosopher al-Biruni's contribution to
human learning was unique. Despite the political upheavals which
interrupted his work, his sheer output was prodigious. He had a
scientific spirit in the full sense of the term and displayed a spirit of
understanding and respect for other cultures remarkable for his time.
His contribution was such that many scholars put him on a par with
or even higher than the great Avicenna. Yet unlike Avicenna, al-Biruni
is virtually unknown except to the rare specialist. The Unesco Courier
hopes that this special number will provide a small insight into the
extraordinary genius of this universal scholar and man of science.

CUMHURtYETl ro
Abu al-Rayhan Mohammed ibn Ahmad S 250
KU RUS

AL-BIRUNI
A universal genius
Turkey

who lived

in Central Asia LBU al-Rayhan Mohammed

ibn Ahmad al-Biruni, the great Central
Asian scholar, is one of those

a thousand years ago intellectual giants whose stature

continues to grow as we become more
fully acquainted with their legacy.
One hundred years ago, when al-
Biruni's Chronology of Ancient Nations
was published in Russian, only one
facet of his many talents was apparent,
by Bobojan Gafurov that of an outstanding medieval his¬
torian. But as more of his works were
discovered treatises on mathematics,
geography and astronomy and the
more deeply they were studied, the
higher al-Biruni stood out above the
mass of his contemporaries.
Al-Biruni was so far ahead of his
BOBOJAN GAFUROV, of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, is director of the time that his most brilliant discoveries
Academy's Institute of Oriental Studies and chairman of the Unesco-sponsored seemed incomprehensible to most of
4 International Association for the Study of the Cultures of Central Asia (comprising the scholars of his day. He was the
Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia! Pakistan and U.S.S.R.). Of Tajik nationality, he first to arrive at an amazingly simple
is the author of many works on Asian history and culture. formula for measuring the earth's
 j? 973-1048 A.D. f* vfA-IVr
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MILLENARY OF AL-BIRUNI <¡ ONE THOUSANDTH ANNNERSARY

10^¿c^1.

Afghanistan

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS QtT ^fe

Al-Biruni is claimed as a ON MILLENARY OF AL-BIRUNI PAKISTAN
NOV. 26 -DEC. 12. 1973
son of many countries, but
as a universal scholar and

scientist he belongs to all

nations and every age.
Here we show commemo¬

rative stamps issued in

1973, on the occasion of

the 1,000th anniversary of

al-Biruni's birth, in Afgha¬
nistan, Iran, Libya, Pakistan,
Syrian Arab Republic, Tur¬
key and USSR. Four coun¬

tries, Afghanistan, Iran,

J3ÈM8
Pakistan and USSR organi¬ Pakistan

zed symposia or congresses

on al-Biruni at the time.

Syrian Arab Rep.

circumference. He thought It possible the decline of the Arab caliphate in Al-Biruni's foster father was Abu-
that the earth revolved around the sun. Baghdad. New states arose on its Nasr Mansur ibn-Ali ibn Iraq, or simply
He developed the idea that geological ruins, and a pleiad of illustrious Central Mansur, a member of the Khwarizmian
eras succeed one another in cycles. Asian scholars appeared, including royal family and a distinguished math¬
"With the passing of time, the sea Abu-Nasr al-Farabi and ibn-Sina (Avi¬ ematician and astronomer. He intro¬
becomes dry land, and dry land the cenna). duced al-Biruni to Euclidean geometry
sea," he wrote, and on this brilliant and Ptolemaean astronomy, which
It was during this period that al-
hypothesis he based his theory of the equipped the young scholar to study
Biruni was born near Kath, the capital
earth's geological history. astronomy.
of Khwarizm, on 4 September, in the
What enabled al-Biruni to move so year 973. "In truth, I am not certain "Most of my days were blessed by
far ahead of his contemporaries and to of my genealogy, for I do not really gifts and privileges which were in¬
create works that made his name
know who my grandfather was. And creasingly bestowed on me," wrote
known in the East as a symbol of how could I know who my grandfather al-Biruni, describing this period of his
learning of the 11th century? was, when I do not even know who life. "The Iraq family nourished me
Khwarizm, in Central Asia, where was my father?" he wrote in a poem with their milk and their Mansur took

al-Biruni was born and grew up, had which appears in one of his treatises. it upon himself to rear me."
long been famed for its advanced Al-Biruni studied the stars and
In his early youth, fortune brought
culture. Its cities had magnificent him in contact with an educated Greek minerals, probed the secrets of the
palaces, mosques and madrasahs who was to become his first teacher. heavens and the earth and read
(religious colleges), and in this pros¬ thousands of books in order to fathom
At the Greek's request, the young
perous, ancient state the sciences were
al-Biruni collected plants, seeds and the meaning of history. He constructed
5
esteemed and highly developed. fruit and this kindled his interest in the a globe of the earth the first in
The 10th and 11th centuries saw natural sciences. Central Asia and was equally gifted
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
 AL-BIRUNI (Continued)

as a poet. He lived through the thing then known about the times of He met and came to know people in
feverish final years of the powerful Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the many different walks of life and
Samanid dynasty and witnessed the Great. maintained close contacts with his

rise and fall of two early feudal fellow scholars. We know from letters
The book explains various calendar
empires the Karakhanid and the written by al-Biruni in Khwarizm, in the
systems such as the Arabian, Greek
Ghaznavid. year 997, to the 17 year-old Avicenna
and Persian. The history of rulers,
in Bokhara, that these young scholars
Social conflicts, feudal wars and heroes and political events is inter¬
discussed Aristotle's Physics and On
barbarian invasions left their imprint woven with the history of culture,
the Heavens, as well as the structure
on his manuscripts, since science does customs and morals. The Chronology
of the universe, the physical laws
of Ancient Nations should not be
not exist in a vacuum, least of all the
covering a free-falling object and in¬
science of history. It might well have considered as a purely historical work,
divisible particles (atoms). Al-Biruni
been the violent social upheavals in but as a partly historical and partly
devoted his work, Questions and Ans¬
Khwarizm that suggested the theme of ethnographic study that retains its full
wers to these exchanges (see article
his first major work, in which he significance to this day.
page 27).
turned to the past for an understanding Soviet scholars of the 1930s referred
Al-Biruni's letters reveal a deep
of how society was evolving. to the Chronology again and again in
respect for the ancient Greek philos¬
their research on ancient Central Asia.
Al-Biruni completed his Chronology ophers and show him to be already a
Only in al-Biruni's work could they find
of Ancient Nations at the age of 27, mature man of science, despite his
an account of the Soghdian calendar,
just before the 11th century was born. youth. In the year 1010, he was ad¬
essential to their study of early
"My aim in this book," he explained, mitted to the Academy of al-Mamun,
8th century Soghdian documents; only
"was to establish as accurately as poss¬ which embraced a group of famous
here could they find information about
ible the time span of various eras." scholars, including the philosopher and
6 His study begins at the dawn of the
pre-Muslim Khwarizm, which archae¬
natural scientist Avicenna, the historian
ologists were just beginning to study.
human race, moves on to the period and philosopher ¡bn-Maskawayh and
of the great flood, and covers every Al-Biruni was no ivory tower scholar. the mathematician abu-Nasr Arrah.
 Photos B. Fabritsky and I. Shmeliov © Aurora Art Publishers, APN, Leningrad

Al-Biruni was born near the town of Kath, north-east of the ancient city of Khiva. Kath has vanished from the
map, but Khiva (today in Uzbekistan) still boasts palaces, religious colleges, mosques and burial monuments
that testify to the talent of its medieval architects and craftsmen. Shown here are two buildings in Khiva
today: the Baths of Anusha-khan (opposite) and the mausoleum of Pahlawan Mahmud (above) whose great
dome covered with blue tiles dominates the city.

Whereas European natural science Phaedo. He was well acquainted with intellectual game; they were ac¬
was in a state of stagnation at that the works of Aristotle, Archimedes and complished sculptors and poets; their
time, scholars in Khwarizm were Democritus, and extolled what he con¬ doctors were highly reputed, and it
vigorously advancing along the path sidered the best of Greek philosophy. was even affirmed that the science of

traced by scientists of antiquity. philosophy had originated In India.

The 11th century was a time of great
Khwarizm's economic growth during In Ghazna, al-Biruni became ac¬
turmoil. The armed hosts of Mahmud
the early feudal period had set the quainted with Indian scholars who, like
of Ghazna overran Khwarizm, in 1017,
stage for a golden age of science in him, were exiled from their homeland.
taking thousands of prisoners, in¬
the early 11th century. His meetings and conversations with
cluding al-Biruni. The decade which
them sparked his Interest in their
Commerce with northern peoples followed was to be the most difficult
remarkable country. For a period of
the Khazars and Bulgars, the ancient period in the scholar's life, but at the
12 years, up to the year 1030, al-Biruni
Russians, and the tribes of the Urals same time his most productive. He
was totally absorbed in India.
and Western Siberia also influenced studied astronomy, collected materials
Many people before al-Biruni had
scientific advancement. Learning for a mathematics treatise, sought to
travelled to India, especially to Sind
flourished in this fertile soil, with its comprehend the influence of the moon
and its southern coast, and some
traditions of a thousand year-old on the tides, and conceived his major
books that could serve historians as
independent culture, combining the work on India, which represents the
a guide to studying the country had
"wisdom of neighbouring India with the zenith of his scientific thinking.
been written. Al-Biruni's monumental
perfect lucidity of far-off Hellas."
Arabic and Persian literature prior work on India, however, clearly
Al-Biruni's frequent references to to al-Biruni's time had depicted India demonstrated a scientific, that is, ob¬
Greek philosophy and scientific thought as a land of wonders. The Indians jective, approach to the subject. At
demonstrate the encyclopedic scope of were knowledgeable in astronomy and the age of 45, he began learning Sans¬
his interests. He was familiar with arithmetic; they were said to have krit. He visited India several times,
7
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and had invented chess, which in al-Biruni's walked on its soil, breathed its air,
studied Plato's treatises, Laws and time was already considered an compared and marvelled.

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

AL-BIRUNI (Continued)

A true scientist, al-Biruni strove to 14 Greek writers and used 40 Sanskrit scholar an elephant loaded with pure
share knowledge as well as to obtain sources. He was an objective re¬ silver, al-Biruni replied: "This gift
it. He translated Euclid's Elements searcher, free of racial bias, with a would seduce me from science. Wise

and his own treatise on astronomy into deep respect for the advanced culture men know that silver is soon spent but
Sanskrit. He also began a translation of another people. science lives on. I would never

of the Panchatantra into Arabic, as he exchange the perennial wealth of

During the reign of Mas'ud, who
considered the existing translation of scientific knowledge for the short-lived
succeeded his father, Mahmud, as
this immortal literary classic to be in¬ tawdry glitter of silver."
Ghaznavid ruler, al-Biruni's situation
adequate. Al-Biruni's main interests were math¬
improved. The new king was an
Al-Biruni's India became the major enlightened man who encouraged the ematics, astronomy, geography, physics
source for studying 11th century India. sciences. Al-Biruni dedicated his and geodesy but in his last work, the

It covered the caste system, philos¬ major work on astronomy, The Mas'udic Pharmacology, he classified the physi¬
Canon, to him. In the opinion of al- cal features of plants, animals and
ophy, the exact sciences, religion, laws,
customs, superstitions, legends, the Biruni's contemporaries and suc¬ minerals, and compiled an alphabetical
list of medicinal herbs and their uses.
system of weights and measures, the cessors, he surpassed his ancient
written language and geography. In mentor, Ptolemy, in this work. Besides Arabic names, al-Biruni
writing it, al-Biruni quoted 24 works by When the grateful Mas'ud sent the listed about 900 Persian, 700 Greek,
400 Syrian and 350 Indian names in
the Pharmacology. He referred to
Aristotle's works on biology, and also
to the writings of Dioscorides and
Below, map showing im¬ Galen, physicians and pharmacologists
portant cities and areas of of the 1st and 2nd centuries. Un¬
central Asia during the ^ firA Sea Ï
fortunately, the Pharmacology was not
lifetime of al-Biruni. Right,
the same region today, i»^ Tashkent f completed, but even in the form it has
e ifrb racing Uzbekistan, Cf. c «.- " j-J CHINA come down to us its values is self-
1 Carmian Sea ^y
Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan 1 jy Samarkand V« evident.
and India.
Al-Biruni's contemporaries spoke of
F j-J-Kabul f^T^y him thus: "Except for two festive
days each year, his hand never stopped
kFGHANISTAjr IslarrWtf *"-Y' writing, his eyes observing, his mind
IRAN J f ) J NEPAC""! f
contemplating." When he died in 1048,
at the age of 75, more than 150 works
vl V" " PAKISTAN/ Delhi 4*i
had flowed from his pen. They
V» V «r KaracVi include 70 on astronomy, 20 on math¬
r 1 - 1 i V ~~\ INDIA

A>
ematics and 18 on literature, including
translations, and bibliographies. He
Oman Sea <^~ M was famed as a cartographer, meteor¬
ologist, physicist, philosopher, historian
and ethnographer.
The boundaries on this map do not imply official endorsement
or acceptance by Unesco or the United Nations. Only 27 of his works have come
down to us. Whether the rest were

destroyed or simply have not been

found is not known. Abu'l Faraj, the
Syrian historian and physician, wrote
of al-Biruni, the man he regarded as
his mentor: "His works gre numerous,
exhaustive and completely reliable.
There was no one, neither among his
colleagues, nor to this day, so well
versed in astronomy, from its main
principles down to the smallest
details."

Al-Biruni had a vast impact on

science in the East. Many countries
claim him as their own, but this son
of Khwarizm, one of Central Asia's
most brilliant civilizations, belongs to
all nations and to all time.

Bobojan Gafurov
Chess was first played in
Asia and many authorities
agree that it originated in
India. In al-Biruni's day it
was already a popular game
in Central Asia, and he may
himself have handled pieces
like the ones shown here of
carved ivory (4 cm. high),
dating from the time when he
lived. They were unearthed
near the village of Kurban-
Sheid, in Tajikstan, in a region
once part of the Ghaznavid
Empire, in which al-Biruni
lived for many years.- Above,
pawns with a knight In fore¬
ground (rider's body and
horse's head are missing).
Left, knight and rook (?)
flanked by pawns.

9
 i

pfe-a¿& ^^ô^fà^^^^

Photo Bibllothtqu« Natloiwl*. Pari*

THE LONG

ODYSSEY by Jacques Boilot

In the footsteps of a Muslim scholar

through a world in ferment FATHER JACQUES BOILOT, distinguished

French orientalist, has devoted many years
to the study of al-Biruni. His 'L'suvre
d'al-Biruni : Essai Bibliographique" is regarded
as the standard bibliographical work on the

10 subject. He is a member of the Dominican

Institute of Oriental Studies (formerly the
French Institute of Oriental Archaeology) in
Cairo. His article is abridged from a study
on al-Biruni published in the Dominican
Institute's review, "Mélanges" (No 11,1972).
 Photos Edinburgh University library, U.K.

Miniatures on these pages are from two different manuscripts of 1307. They show the celebration of the autumnal equinox by the
al-Biruni's Chronology of Ancient Nations. Opposite, copied and Hindus (5); a barbecue with roast fowl and game (4); a discussion
illustrated in Cairo in the 17th century, a miniature portraying the between a sage and a peasant (2); and the birth of Caesar (3),
Sassanian king Feroz addressing his court (1). The four miniatures an early pictorial representations of the surgical operation which
above are from a manuscript probably made at Tabriz, Iran, dated bears his name. Al-Biruni himself used the term "Caesarian".

kL-BIRUNI is one of the generalized syntheses by systemized Aral Sea, along the Amu-Dar'ya river,
greatest scholars of medieval Islam deduction, or metaphysical speculation the Oxus of the ancients (1).
and probably the most original and in the strict sense of the term, but The sultanate of Khwarizm had en¬
profound of all. His Eastern contem¬ constantly on the look-out for positive joyed relative independence throughout
poraries called him al-Ostadh (The facts carefully and critically observed, its history but successive wars and
Master). trained to think mathematically, In¬ changes in the course of the Amu-
terested in everything concretely Dar'ya river brought about the de¬
How did his fame spread to the West
related to human life, he appears at struction of one medieval city after
in the Middle Ages? 'His major works
the beginning of the eleventh century another. As a result, It Is difficult to
were apparently not translated into
like a champion of the scientific spirit determine the exact site of Kath, the
Latin, with the possible exception of a
as it is understood today. city where al-Biruni was born in
few peripheral chapters dealing with
natural magic, judicial astrology, talis- 973 A.D., beyond the fact that it was
"He showed great religious tolerance
manic art . . . The extraordinary features probably situated on the right bank
and doctrinal objectivity. Above all,
of his life as recounted by his Eastern he wanted to learn and understand.
of the Amu-Dar'ya river north-east of
biographers perhaps added to his the modern town of Khiva.
He was relatively unprejudiced but
reputation. Early French texts that prepared to take a courageous stand The second largest city in Khwarizm
speak of a "Maître Aliboron" are in defence of truth. He was one of was Jurjaniyya on the opposite bank
almost certainly alluding to "Master the first Muslims to study the phil¬ and to the north of Khiva. Today it
al-Biruni", scientist, doctor and man of osophy and science of India sympath¬ is known as Urgench. On the right
deep wisdom. etically, and in exchange he taught bank across from Urgench, a new town
While al-Biruni's work is of great those of Greece." has risen not very far perhaps from
value in itself and deserves serious ancient Kath, and its name, "Biruni",
So it Is al-Biruni the man we wish to commemorates the scientist's birth¬
study by historians of science, religion
and philosophy, it is the Master's discover, by piecing together such place.
mental outlook and the nature of his facts as will help us to place him in
his setting and his time.
intellectual interests
today find stimulating.
that scholars
(1) Now part of the Soviet Socialist
Republic of Uzbekistan, this region is in¬
11
This puts us in the latter part of the
habited by Turkmenlan and Mongolian
Fifteen years ago we wrote: "Appar¬ tenth century In Khwarizm, a central peoples, the Karakalpaks, whose lands form
ently not much given to making Asian country situated south of the the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Republic.

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

 THE LONG ODYSSEY (Continued)

Al-Biruni very early began scientific Al-Biruni wrote a treatise describing

studies and at the age of 17 he used this sextant and giving a detailed
a ring graduated in halves of a degree account of the observations made,
to observe the height of the sun at based on information given to him by
the Kath meridian and thus calculate al-Khojandi in person. As the astron¬
the latitude of the city. Four years omer died about the year 1000, his
later he made plans for a series of scientific discussions with the young
observations and measurements, and al-Biruni in Ray, must have dated from
had prepared an astronomical ring shortly after the observations carried
15 cubits (8 metres) in diameter along out in 994.

with other equipment.

There is reason to believe that al-
At this time, civil war broke out in Biruni was also in the province of
Khwarizm and al-Biruni, who was Gilan, along the south-west corner of
now 22, went into hiding and soon had the Caspian Sea about this time. One of
to flee the country. his books Is dedicated to the Ispahbad ceeded in reinstating himself in Gurgan
In order to understand al-Biruni's ("ruler" or "commander") of Jilan. In and al-Biruni followed him there.

long career from then on, we must take the Chronology of Ancient Nations The Chronology, al-Biruni's first
into account the political situation in which was finished by the year 1000, major work, seems to have been
the countries where he was to live. In he speaks of having been in the written at the Gurgan court. This
addition to what is now Uzbekistan, presence of the Ispahbad of Jilan book, which treats of calendars and
they comprised the northern part of perhaps the same official who pro¬ eras, and fundamental problems in
present-day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan tected Firdausi, the epic poet of Persia, mathematics, astronomy, meteorology,
and northern India. Al-Biruni in the from the wrath of Sultan Mahmud.
was dedicated to 0aDUS about the year
course of his life was directly involved 390 of the Islamic calendar (1000 A.D.).
In any event, al-Biruni was certainly
with six princely dynasties. In it al-Biruni refers to seven other
back in Kath by 997. On 24 May in
Who was the prince that al-Biruni that year, he observed an eclipse of books that he had already completed,
fled to for protection in 9957 We do the moon in Kath, after arranging to dealing with decimal numbers, the
not know with certainty. It may have astrolabe, astronomical observations,
have the great Muslim mathematician,
been then that he went to the town of Abu' l-Wafa, observe the same astrology and history.
Ray, near present-day Teheran. In his phenomenon in Baghdad. The time During this period al-Biruni was
Chronology of Ancient Nations he difference between the respective carrying on an acrimonious correspon¬
quotes a poem on the tribulations of observations enabled the two scientists dence with a young prodigy, the
poverty, and recounts that when he to calculate the difference in longitude brilliant philosopher and physician of
was living in Ray without royal between the two points. Bokhara, Ibn Sina, known in the Latin
patronage and destitute, a local countries as Avicenna, who was seven
astrologer scoffed at his views on years his junior (see article page 27).
some technical matter simply because
Among the subjects on which they
he was poor. Later, when his situation
exchanged views were the nature and
improved, the same man became HE short reign of the Sa- transmission of heat and light. Al-
friendly. manid Mansur II began the same year, Biruni was not yet 30 years old at the
At that time, the flourishing Bowayhid 997, and it was also about that time time and Avicenna was in his early
dynasty, which had originated in the that al-Biruni visited his court at the. twenties.

mountains south of the Caspian Sea, capital city of Bokhara. The Samanid
In his book on geodesy, after de¬
extended its domain south towards the dynasty, a royal house of Zoroastrian
scribing the measurement of a degree
Persian Gulf and west to Mesopotamia. origin, but early converted to Islam,
along a terrestrial meridian, made at
ruled an area comprising all of modern
At the request of the Bowayhid the direction of the Caliph Ma'mun, al-
Afghanistan, Transoxiana and Iran.
prince, Fakhr al-Dawla, the astronomer Biruni describes his own failure to
al-Khojandi had built a large mural Meanwhile, 0aDUS, the Ziyarid ruler repeat the operation. A suitable tract
sextant on a mountain above the town of Gurgan, a city at the south-east of land had been chosen between Gur¬

12 of Ray. He used this "Fakhri Sextant" corner of the Caspian Sea, had been gan and the land of the Oghuz Turks
so named after the prince to driven from his lands, and was trying (on the deserts east of the Caspian)
observe the sun's transits throughout to obtain support from Bokhara in an but the patron, presumably Oabus, lost
the year 994. effort to return to power. He suc interest.
 THE TOWER OF QABUS
Al-Biruni lived at a time of great ferment in learning and
the arts. About 1 000 A.D., he was living at Gurgan, in
north-east Iran, at the court of Qabus, to whom he dedicated
his first known major work, the Chronology of Ancient
Nations. Left, the famous tower of Qabus. It was long
believed to be the ruler's tomb, but recent investigation
has revealed no trace of a burial chamber. Al-Biruni may
have watched the tower being built, since elegantly carved
Arabic inscriptions at its summit and base record that
Qabus ordered its construction in 1006 A.D. when al-Biruni
was 33 years old. The region had been reputed since the
9th century for its pottery. Below, platter and bowl shaped
by Samanid potters who worked in Transoxiana and in
Khorassan, countries in which al-Biruni sojourned for several
years. Kufic Arabic inscriptions adorn platter (left); glazed
bowl (right) bears a stylized bird motif.

Photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photo © Freer Gallery of Art,

New York, U.S.A. Washington, U.S.A.

The end of al-Biruni's stay at the affairs, which caused fools to envy me On the basis of the measurements
Ziyarid court can be precisely estab¬ and wise men to pity me." made with this crude device he calcu¬
lished, for in 1003 he observed two lated the latitude of the locality. On
Ma'mun, the Khwarizmshah, confided
lunar eclipses from Gurgan, one on 8 April, 1019, he observed an eclipse
several difficult political missions to
19 February and the other on 14 Au¬ of the sun at Lamghan, a town to the
al-Biruni, who carried them out skil¬
gust. The following year he observed north-east of Kabul.
fully "with tongue of silver and of
a third lunar eclipse, but this time
gold". But Ma'mun was assassinated Al-Biruni's relations with Sultan
from Jurjaniyya, on 4 June. Thus in
by some of his troops in revolt and Mahmud were never cordial. It is
the interim, he had returned to his
this gave the Ghaznavid sultan Mahmud evident, none the less, that he was
homeland, high in favour with the
an opportunity to march against given official support for his work. In
reigning Khwarizmshah. his Canon he relates that he determin¬
Khwarizm with a large army. From
Thanks to the Khwarizmshah's liber¬
its base In east-central Afghanistan the ed the latitude of Ghazna by a series
ality, al-Biruni was able to construct kingdom of the Ghaznavids was swiftly of observations made between 1018
in Jurjaniyya an astronomical instru¬ expanding. By 1020, Sultan Mahmud and 1020 with an instrument which he
ment which in gratitude he called the had carved out a realm extending a calls the "Yamini Ring". Yamin al-
"Shah's Circle". In all probability it thousand miles north and south and Dawla (Right Hand of the State) was
was a large ring fixed on the plane of twice as far east and west. one of the titles conferred on Mahmud
the meridian.
by the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, and
Al-Biruni speaks in several places the monumental instrument was named,
in the Tahdid, his book on geodesy, according to custom, after the royal
and in his Canon on astronomy, of patron.
15 observations of the sun's transit »L-BIRUNI was among those It is also evident that al-Biruni's
over the meridian in Jurjaniyya, the deported by the conqueror to Ghazna interests in Sanscrit and the civilization
first one at the summer solstice on in Sijistan (Afghanistan), partly no of India were due to his forced resi¬
7 June 1016, and the last one on doubt to enhance the sultan's court dence in an empire that now extended
7 December of the same year. It was with his presence, but also In order to well into the Indian subcontinent. In
probably during this period of pros¬ get rid of an active supporter of the 1021 the conquering sultan subjugated
perity and royal favour that he had a Khwarizmian pretenders. He was then the Ganges Valley almost as far as
hemisphere ten cubits (5.4 metres) in 44 years old. Benares, and in 1026, by a daring raid
diameter built to help solve geodesic south starting from Ghazna, he reached
The following year we find him in
problems graphically. the Indian Ocean.
a village south of Kabul, downcast and
Meantime the political atmosphere livinq in misery, but working hard on Al-Biruni took advantage of these
in the sultanate of Khwarizm was the Tahdid. On 14 October 1018 he events to visit various parts of India
becoming more and more tense. In the wanted to measure the height of the and stayed there more or less volun¬
Tahdid al-Biruni writes: "I had enjoyed sun but had no instrument to hand. tarily. We know that he journeyed to
only a few years of peace when the So he was obliged to draw a calibrated the Punjab and Kashmir regions, 13
Lord of Time (God) allowed me to arc on the back of a reckoning board though no dates can be given for his
return to my own country; but there and use it.with the aid of a plumb line, visits. He determined the latitudes of
I was forced to take part in public as a makeshift quadrant a number of towns, and reports that
CONTINUED PAGE 16
I

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Seven years ago the existence of the mosque of Nouh-Goumbed resting on six central columns. The domes have fallen in, but even
with its nine domes, one of the early examples of Islamic archi¬ in its present state the mosque gives an impression of beauty
tecture in Central Asia, was unknown to modern scholars. Its and strength. This is in part due to the size of the six columns
imposing ruins, hidden away in the remoteness of north-west 1.56 metres in diameter (above) and to the manner in which the
Afghanistan on the site of the ancient city of Balkh, were studied baked bricks are separated by small decorated interstices 4 to
and described by archeologists only in 1967. In this region 5 cm. wide. The exterior (above left) is ravaged by time, but
al-Biruni set the scene of one of his romances, The Two the interior decoration is well preserved (see ornamental detail
Idols of Bamian (see page 30). Up to the 7th century, Balkh below left). The floral and geometrical motifs are found on the
was an important seat of Buddhist learning. After its conquest stucco carvings which cover the entire surface above the columns
by the Arabs in 663, its fame as an intellectual and artistic centre in an infinite profusion of designs, none of which is repeated, 15
spread even wider and its splendours were recounted by Arab except on the capitals. The decorative features and form of
and Chinese travellers and historians. The nine domes of this construction enabled archaeologists to place the mosque in the
almost square mosque were once supported on pointed arches 9th century and as "an architectural achievement without precedent".
 THE LONG ODYSSEY (Continued from page 13)

while he was living at Fort Nandana, serious ailments. In his distress, he-
he used a nearby mountain to calculate questioned several astrologers about;
the diameter of the earth. Nandana how much time he had left to live.;
had been taken by Mahmud in 1014. Their replies were at total variance
It controlled the route by which he, the with one another and some were
Moghuls after him, and Alexander the obviously absurd. In point of fact,,
Great long before penetrated the Indus towards the end of his 61st year
Valley. (possibly his 61st lunar year) his
health began to improve.
Al-Biruni spent a long time in Ghazna
itself and made many astronomical One night he dreamt that lie was
observations there, including transits observing the new moon and when its
of the sun across the meridian at the crescent disappeared he heard a voice
time of the summer solstice in 1019, predicting that he would be able to
an eclipse of the moon on 16 Septem¬ gaze upon it 170 times more. As It
ber 1019, and equinoxes and solstices turned out, he lived longer than
up to the winter solstice in 1021. It
was then that he completed his treatise
Shadows.
170 more lunations (14 lunar years).
It was during the reign of Mawdud,
son of Sultan Mas'ud, (1040-1048) that
pioneer
In 1024, the ruler of the Turks along al-Biruni wrote Gems, his book on
the Volga sent an embassy to Ghazna. precious and semi-precious stones
The Turks had trade relations with the and on metals. Following this period,
inhabitants of the polar regions, and even though his sight and hearing were
al-Biruni was able to add to his know¬ failing, as he himself tells us in his
ledge of those countries by question¬ last book, he carried on his research
assiduously with the aid of a Greek

scientific
ing the envoys. One of them stated
assistant.
in the sultan's presence that some¬
times in the far north the sun did not His final work was the Pharmacology
set for days. Mahmud at first con¬ which ¡s a tribute to his prodigious
sidered this as heresy and was enrag¬ erudition. Al-Biruni tells us that he
ed, but al-Biruni convinced him that was over eighty years old (lunar
It was perfectly plausible. years?) when he was still working on
In 1027, the year that the treatise this compilation, which brings us down
Chords was finished, a Chinese and to the year 1050 or later. The date
Uighur Turkish legation came to of his death, as given by Ghadanfar.
December 1048 Is therefore
Ghazna. From this mission, al-Biruni
obtained geographical information inexact. Ultimately, he survived his
about the Far East which he later third Ghaznavid patron and lived
included In his Canon. longer than the time predicted in his
dream.
Sultan Mahmud died in 1030, and
Al-Biruni was Persian by birth. He
soon afterwards al-Biruni completed
was brought up In the Khwarizm dialect
his encyclopaedic book, India, but he
and later used Neo-Persian as his
did not dedicate it to any particular
spoken tongue, but out of choice he
patron. Within the year (1030) the
preferred the Arabic language as an
sultan's eldest son, Mas'ud succeeded
to the crown and then the situation of
instrument of thought and a means of
expression in his intellectual life, both
his most famous scientist changed
for his scientific treatises and his
completely.
purely literary works.
Al-Biruni put the final touches to his
Thus his writings constitute a monu¬
third major work, the Canon of Astro¬
ment in the history of ideas and doc¬
nomy, and dedicated it to the new
trines within the Arab world before
sovereign in florid terms.
In this book he takes issue with
forming part of the general history of by Mohammed
human thought, as a contribution from Salim-A tchekzai
Ptolemy's system on several points. the Arabic-speaking world where they
He holds, for example, that the sun's came into being and first acquired their
apogee is not fixed, and while he fame.
accepts the geocentric theory, he
shows that the astronomical facts can In point of fact, al-Biruni, personally
and well ahead of his time, was a
also be explained by assuming that the
earth revolves round the sun. promoter of mutual understanding and
fruitful cultural exchange between the
According to one chronicler, Mas'ud East and the West though he may
offered the Master an elephant-load of
not have thought of himself as such
silver coins for this work, but al-Biruni
through the active mediation of the
declined the gift. Nevertheless he Arabic language and the profoundly
was provided with the means to con¬ humanistic values Inherent in it.
tinue his scientific and literary studies
as long as he lived. By virtue of his scientific method,
which makes him a model for the
It may have been because of this
Eastern world even today and ensures
change of regime that he was able to
him the gratitude of Western science,
re-visit his native country. He made
he was a forerunner; and in his apti¬
at least one trip back, for in his
tude for inter-cultural understanding,
Bibliography he writes that for over
he formed a connecting link between
forty years he had sought a certain MOHAMMED SALIM-ATCHEKZAI, of Afgha¬
East and West, just as his work is a
16 Manichaean work, a copy of which he
manifestation of their underlying unity
nistan, Is professor of Afghan language and
literature at the New Sorbonne University,
finally procured in Khwarizm.
and fraternity. Paris. Mr. Salim-Atchekzal has made a
Al-Biruni recounts that after the age special study of Afghan civilization and
culture.
of 50 he suffered from a number of Jacques Boilot
1. The earth and I^Uji.
the heavens
measured

with amazing
precision
2. Al-Biruni's book
on India :

an unprecedented
effort
to understand

a people
and their culture

*' ' \1 « I

Photo British Museum, London

This diagram, reproduced from one of al-Biruni's treatises on astronomy,

illustrates the different phases of the moon. The sun is represented by the
black disc at the top.

»FTER the dismemberment the author of the Book of Kings, epic The Mas'udic Canon is an almost
of the Empire of Charlemagne, the masterpiece of Persian literature. complete encyclopedia of astronomy
Christian West was at a low ebb. The and of the related sciences. It consists
Al-Biruni was one of the many
tenth century was a sombre period scholars and philosophers who were of 11 volumes dealing simultaneously
when conditions favoured neither the drawn to the court of Sultan Mahmud with cosmology, chronology, geography
growth of great political empire-building (998-1030) in Ghazna, where he was and mathematics as well as astronomy.
movements nor the dissemination of Avicenna's Canon of Medicine is justly
employed as the court astronomer.
philosophical ideas. This mixture of astrology and astron¬ famous, but the sheer scale and the
omy was not, however, enough to intrinsic value of the Mas'udic Canon
In the Muslim East, however, the
tenth century was a time of brilliant satisfy the thirst for knowledge of a place it in the same category.
intellectual progress. The empires of man with such an enquiring mind. In compiling the works of his pre¬
the East, linked by a vigorous faith, Al-Biruni's works, both before and decessors, al-Biruni corrected many of
attracted to themselves a great number after his arrival In Ghazna, show him their mistakes, both theoretical and
of scholars who made a unique contri¬ to have been a man of many and varied experimental. He never made a formal
bution to the cultural heritage of interests. He carried out research in break with the geocentric system which
mankind. was universally accepted In the Middle
almost all the subjects known at that
In the empire of the Samanids (819- time. Among the pure sciences, Ages. He was, however, aware of the
1005), with its capital in Bokhara, the astronomy was naturally the pivotal existence of the heliocentric system
point around which all his other from the works of Greek astronomers
talents of poets such as Rudaki and
Daqiqi and of scholars such as Rhazes interests revolved. like Asistarchus of Samos, and also
and Avicenna, flourished, while Ghazna, The extent of his knowledge, particu¬ from the teachings of certain sages
whom he had met in India.
the capital of the empire of the Ghaz- larly in astronomy, may be judged from
navids (977-1186), which stretched two main works: the Mas'udic Canon Al-Biruni hesitated for many years 17
from western India as far as Khwarizm, and the Kitab al-Tafhim (a book of in¬ between the two systems and in fact
was the home of many poets and structions on the elements of the remained undecided until his death; it
scholars such as 'Unsuri and Firdausi, science of astrology). is important to stress, however, that
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
 SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION (Continued)

he always maintained that there was
absolutely no contradiction between the
heliocentric hypothesis and the laws
of astronomy. As he himself said:
" I have seen the astrolabe
Zuraqi invented by Abu Sa'id Sijzi.
I liked it very much and praised him
a great deal, as it is based on the idea
entertained by some to the effect that
the motion we see is due to the Earth's
movement and not to that of the sky.
By my life, it is a problem difficult of
solution and refutation . . . For it is the
same whether you take it that the Earth
is in motion or the sky. For, In both
cases, it does not affect the Astronomi¬
cal Science. It is just for the physicist
to see if it is possible to refute it."
Al-Biruni was throughly familiar with
"Besides, the rotation of the
does in no way impair the value of
astronomy, as all appearances of an
astronomic character can quite as well
called be explained according to this theory
as to the other. There are, however,
other reasons which make it imposs¬
ible. This question is most difficult
to solve. The most prominent of both
modem and ancient astronomers have
deeply studied the question of the
moving of the earth, and tried to refute
it. We, too, have composed a book
on the subject called Miftah-ilm-alhai'a
(Key to Astronomy), in which we think
we have surpassed our predecessors,
if not in the words, at all events In the
matter."
In his measurements of the circum¬
earth Al-Biruni compiled a table of the
latitudes and longitudes of the 600 most
important towns and localities in the
Islamic world; this enabled him to
determine with scientific accuracy the
direction of Mecca, to which Muslims
turn to pray. When constructing
mosques, builders could thus place the
mihrabs (semicircular niches In the
wall indicating the direction of Mecca)
correctly.
For the purposes of cartography, he
invented a special system of stereo-
graphic projection, remarkably simple
to use, whereby the part of the globe
to be represented is projected on the
great circle of which the point of vision
is the pole.

the astronomical works of Ptolemy and ference of the earth, he was only Al-Biruni was severely critical of
other Greek astronomers. In geometry, 110 km. out by comparison with modern astrologers and their unscientific
his work Is based on that of Euclid and measurements. He studied the sun approach to their work. Thus it was
that he came to write a treatise which
of Archimedes and Theon (4th cen¬ during the eclipse and ways of measur¬
tury A.D.), but he was also acquainted ing the illuminated parts of the moon. he called A Warning Against the Art of
with the work of the great Indian He described the various phases of the False Predictions by the Stars. In the
dawn and the dusk and carried out Mas'udic Canon, he denounced the
astronomer Brahmagupta (6th to
7th centuries A.D.) and the astronomi¬ observations of the new moon. He alleged "secrets" of astrologers' pre¬
cal works of the Indian, Tabahafara studied the astronomy of the stars. dictions, pointing out that, although
(7th century A.D.). He classified the celestial bodies they were supposed to be dictated by
the influence of the celestial bodies on
In his book on India, al-Biruni quotes
(planets and fixed stars) by order of
magnitude (in fact by their luminosity.) human lives, one prediction often
a passage from Brahmagupta's book contradicted another.
He noted stars' positions and observed
concerning the rotation of the earth:
their apparent motion around the poles.
"The followers of Aryabhata maintain He was also a geologist and ob¬
His list included 1,029 stars.
served the stratified structure of the
that the earth is moving and heaven
resting. People have tried to refute He learned about trigonometry from rocks, noting that:
them by saying that, if such were the India, and was the first to establish it
"We have to rely upon the records
case, stones and trees would fall from as a science distinct from that of
of the rocks and vestiges of the past
the earth. " astronomy.
to infer that all these changes should
But, says al-Biruni: He was the first geometrician to use have taken place very long ago and
"Brahmagupta does not agree with the radius of the circle as unity, an under unknown conditions of cold and
them, and says that that would not idea which immenseley simplified heat: for even now it takes a long time
necessarily follow from their theory, calculations. He wrote the best for water and wind to do their work.
apparently because he thought that all medieval account of the arithmetical And changes have been going on and
heavy things are attracted towards the systems used in India and on methods observed and noticed within historical
centre of the earth . . . of extracting the cube root. times."

CONTINUED PAGE 42

RAMPARTS
OF GHAZNI

Part of the remains of the

fortifications of ancient Ghaz¬

na (today Ghazni), in Afgha¬

nistan. It was here that al-Bi¬

runi spent many years at the

court of the Ghaznavid em¬

perors. (See also back cover).

18
 SB*

r<sfii

©G TfiCourier

AL-BIRUNI

r v

UiF
SSV

TjÍ>*ÍAr¿

Portrait of al-Biruni by the Iranian artist

Azarguin based on recent historical research.

^* Va

sm

MINIATURE ANTHOLOGY
Selections from works by al-Biruni

including many translated

into English for the first time
K&ll

Al-Biruni is believed to have written at least 150 works (180 according to some
authorities) by the time of his death about 1050 A.D. The actual number is uncer¬
tain since roughly four-fifths of his writings have vanished. Al-Biruni himself
recorded 113 titles in a bibliography he prepared in 1036 when he was 63 years
of age. In this special supplement, the "Unesco Courier" presents passages from
the writings of al-Biruni, including many translated into English for the first
time. Those we present here have been chosen not only to show the originality
and encyclopaedic scope of his thinking, but in particular his narrative talents and
the scientific approach he made to every subject. Highly technical and scientific
material has naturally been excluded. The passages published are taken from:
Alberuni's India (translated by Edward C. Sachau, 2 volumes, London, 1888);
The Chronology of Ancient Nations (translated by Edward C. Sachau, London,
1879); Al-Biruni's Book on Pharmacy and Materia Medica (translated by Hakim
Mohammed Said, Karachi, 1973); The Determination of the Co-ordinates of
&>2 Cities (Geodesy); The Mas'udic Canon on Astronomy; Gems, and Bibliography
isss. of the Works ofal-Razi.

^mm^mmBm^m^L. %mmÊ&&
K
«&»

!?SK|

' Photo Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

INTELLIGENCE can be seen to this day. The waters afloat. Breathing air in and out through
AND REASONING of the Red Sea flowed in at high tide the tube, the diver could then stay
and receded when the tide was low. under water as long as he wished, even
Some believe that science is of recent However, when the level of the Red through the entire day.
Sea was measured, the project was Gems
origin, others that it is as old as the
world. The former affirm that its tech¬ abandoned, for the Red Sea is higher
niques were taught by "initiation" and than the Nile of Egypt and it was feared THE NATURE OF GOD
aaa
»
go so far as to maintain that every that its waters would engulf that river.
. . . Some Hindu scholar calls God
technique was revealed and implanted During the reign of Ptolemy III, Archi¬
a point, meaning to say thereby that
by a particular prophet. But there are medes completed the unfinished worî«
the qualities of bodies do not apply
others who think that man discovers without causing the slightest mishap.
to him. Now some uneducated man
techniques with the help of Intelligence A Roman king blocked the canal, how¬
reads this and imagines that God
and that it is reasoning which enables ever, in order to bar the way to the
Persians who threatened to invade is as small as a point, and he does not
the mind to acquire understanding . . . find out what the word point in this
íí^í Egypt.
When one discovers, by reasoning, a The Determination of the sentence was really intended to express.
law or principle, one must proceed from He will not even stop with this offensive
Co-ordinates of Cities (Geodesy).
the general to the particular. At the comparison, but will describe God as
same time, experiment and reflection much larger, and will say "He is twelve
allow us to compare one thing with SCUBA DIVING fingers long and ten fingers broad."
another and so obtain knowledge in IN 1000 A.D. Praise be to God, who is far above
detail... measure and numberl Further, if an
Someone from Bagdad has told me uneducated man hears what we have
Time is limitless and successive
that pearl divers have recently discover¬ mentioned, that God comprehends the
generations traverse only stages. Each
ed a method for overcoming the problem universe so that nothing is concealed
passes on its heritage to the next,
of breathing under water. They are thus from him, he will at once imagine that
which develops and enriches it. That
able to dive from morning till evening, this comprehending is effected by means
is the true metempsychosis, not the
for as long as they like... The device is of eyesight; that eyesight is only
soul, which simply passes from one
a leather sac<< which the diver passes possible by means of an eye, and that
body to another.
over his head and which extends to two eyes are better than only one; and
Bibliography of the Works
just below his chest. He attaches it in consequence he will describe God as
of al-Razi
very firmly just beneath the lower ribs having a thousand eyes, meaning to
then he dives and breathes the air describe his omniscience.
contained in the bag. But a heavy Alberuni's India
ANTIQUITY'S weight is needed to draw the diver,
SUEZ CANAL with his air supply, towards the bottom ' THE ENCOMPASSING
and to keep him down. It would be
OCEANS
more advantageous to fix to the upper
When the Persian kings conquered part of the device a leather tube shaped The northern regions are uninhabited
Egypt they tried to cut a canal through like a sleeve, the seams of which are because of the cold and the snow, but
the isthmus to link the two seas [the hermetically sealed by wax and tar. we find that the shores of the sea,
Red Sea and the Mediterranean]. Sea¬ The length of the tube should corres¬ called the Sea of the Varangians (Bal¬
going vessels would thus have been pond to the depth of water in which tic Sea), which leads off the Encircling
able to sail direct from west to east. the diver has to work. The upper end Sea to the north of the lands of the
The first king to dream of such a canal of the tube should be fixed into a large Slavs (1), are inhabited.
was Sesostris, whose idea was taken vessel through an opening pierced in These folk live on the shores of the
up by Darius. A waterway of consider¬ the bottom. One or more bladders sea In localities parallel with regions
able width was dug, of which traces attached to the vessel would keep It which are beset by cold and snow, yet
 . ;Mfô 'íáiv^-

Left, map of the world, from a treatise by al-Biruni on

astronomy, drawn in Tashkent The north is at the
bottom. Below, the same map reversed with the north
at the top to facilitate indentification of different regions :
1. Caspian Sea, 2. China, 3. India, 4. Persian Gulf,
5. Red Sea, 6. Black Sea, 7. Mediterranean, 8. Egypt,
9. Morocco, 10. Andalusia, 11. Baltic Sea, 12. The
" Encircling Ocean ".
Photo S.A. Davldov - © APN, Tashkent

the cold in those places, though severe, Both these regions are located water then rose up and covered it.
is not so extreme. beneath the zenith of the Sun, Moon and As concerns the Encircling Sea to
Stars, for which reason their climate is the East [Pacific Ocean] it is often
Furthermore, there are among these
mild and their waters are easily navi¬ shrouded in darkness and is a place
folk fishermen and hunters who put far
gable. of frequent calms, where navigation is
out to sea during the summer days and,
most dangerous.
following the Azimuth of the North Pole, As concerns the Encircling Ocean to
reach places where the Sun at the the West [Atlantic Ocean], it Is an
summer solstice never descends below enormous mass of water, but there are It is believed that these two seas, the
the horizon; observing this with their many shoals and shallows in it where one to the West and the one to the

own eyes, they then boast among their the water becomes viscous, like a mud East of the dry land [the Atlantic and
kindred that they have been In places spring, so that navigation Is difficult Pacific Oceans] are not Joined together.
where there is no night at all. and its paths are unknown. It was for But those who have sailed these seas
this reason that the great Hercules set and have suffered shipwrecks because
As concerns the impossibility of the
his signs and pillars opposite Andalus, of the storms recount things which lead
inhabited regions continuing uninter¬ so that sailors might be deterred from us to believe that they may be joined.
ruptedly to east and west, there Is no the ambition of sailing beyond them. Recent evidence has furthermore
excess of heat or cold to prevent this,
The place where they were set up was strengthened these suppositions and
but habitability comes to an end because then probably dry land which has since indeed given them the character of truth.
the dry land emerged from the oneness been covered by the waters. Ship's timbers have been found bound
of the waters by the will of God as
A worthy traveller recounts in a mes¬ together In the Encircling Sea near its
well as from natural causes. The dry
sage to Khamza ibn al-Hasan al-lsfa- confluence with the Syrian Sea. But
land must therefore be a separate part
hani (4) the wonders which he saw In it is only In the Indian Sea that timbers
without continuation and it must be
the West. He recalls having sailed are lashed together In this way (because
bounded by the encompassing waters.
through a narrow strait, the strait [Straits of the many magnetic stones which are
Hence it must have boundaries both to
of Gibraltar] connecting the Syrian Sea there and are a danger to shipping) and
the east and to the west.
not in the Western Sea, where the
[Mediterranean] with the Encircling Sea
The sea which lies to the south of The shores were visible both on the ships' timbers are not lashed together
the dry land I assume to be a sea leading side of Andalus and on the side of but fastened with Iron nails. The pre¬
out of the encircling sea to the East of sence of these timbers in the Western
Tangier and Further Sus (5). He looked
China, stretching along the Equator Into the waters of the Strait and saw Sea is proof that they arrived there by
parallel tb China, then to India and to In Its depths a mighty bridge of rock,
Persia, and then to the land of the (1) Slavs who settled on the shores of
and one of those present affirmed that
the Baltic the Pomeranians and the
Arabs, and ending in a gulf of the Sea It had been built by Alexander. But
Novgorodian Slovenes.
of Kulzum [Red Sea]. In every place the Andalusians exclaimed: "The devil
it is called by the name of the country (2) A name not found In other sources,
take your Alexanderl Could he have
It may refer to the Cape (Ras) Khafun, the
off whose shores it passes. taken the land of the Andalusians to
extreme eastern tip of Africa.
Similarly, the sea which runs out build this? This was built of old by
(3) " Ethiopians " East African Ne¬
Hercules I "
of the Encircling Sea to the west of groes.

ZinJ by the headland known as Rasun I believe that "Hercules' crossing" (4) Famous 10th century historian and
(2), stretches southward from the Equa¬ mentioned in Ptolemy's "Geography" is philologist.
tor parallel to the land of the Negroes nothing other than this bridge. It was (5) As-Sus al-Aqsa, medieval name of
and the Sofala of the Zinj (3). undoubtedly once above water, but the part of Morocco.

*m!$.
 some waterway connecting it to the Likewise physicians are well aware been deposited, the prospectors purloin
Indian Sea. This could not have happen¬ that she affects the humores of sick them, then remove the glass, so deceiv¬
ed by way of the Sea of Kulzum for people, and that the fever-days revolve ing the eagle into believing that it
between it and the Syrian Sea there parallel with the moon's course. Phy¬ has regained its young thanks to fetch¬
lies an isthmus. sical scholars know that the life of ing the diamonds. The glass is then
animals and plants depends upon the replaced, and the eagle flies off in
Nor is it easy to envisage a junction
moon, and experimentalists know that search of more gems.
between the two by way of the sea
which lies to the north. In such a case,
she influences marrow and brain, eggs Gems
and the sediments of wine in casks
the timbers, after being broken up in
the Indian Sea, would have had to drift
and jugs, that she excites the minds
of people who sleep in full moonlight, THE GREAT ART
out of it through an eastern strait linking
and that moonlight affects linen clothes
the seas (6) and would then have had OF THE HINDUS
which are exposed to it.
to drift around those parts lying to the
north beneath the zenith of the Polar Peasants know how the moon acts In every place to which some particu¬
Star or through the other northern upon fields of cucumbers, melons, lar holiness is ascribed, - the Hindus
quarters of the Earth lying opposite the cotton, etc., and even make the times construct ponds intended for the ab¬
dry land. for the various kinds of sowing, planting, lutions. In this they have attained to
This cannot be what happened. Espe¬ and grafting, and for the covering of the a very high degree of art, so that our
cattle depend upon the course of the people (the Muslims), when they see
cially when it is considered that those
who speak of the joining of the seas moon. Lastly, astronomers know that them, wonder at them, and are unable

point out that the level of the eastern météorologie occurrences depend upon to describe them, much less to construct
m waters is higher than that of the western the various phases through which the anything like them. The Hindus build
waters, just as it was discovered when moon passes in her revolutions. them of great stones of an enormous
the land was being surveyed that the Alberuni's India bulk, joined to each other by sharp and
waters of the Sea of Kulzum are higher strong cramp-irons, in the form of steps
than those which run into the Syrian (or terraces) like so many ledges; and
DIAMONDS AND THE EAGLE these terraces run all around the pond,
Sea. The conclusion must be that the
seas are linked to the south of the dry reaching to a height of more than a
land. man's stature. On the surface of the

i&i The Determination stones between two terraces they con¬

of the Co-ordinates of Cities (Geodesy) struct staircases rising like pinnacles.
Thus the first steps or terraces are like
roads (leading round the pond) and the
(6) AI-Blrunl may have known or conjec¬
tured about the existence of the Behring pinnacles are steps (leading up and
Straits. down). If ever so many people descend
to the pond whilst others ascend, they
do not meet each other, and the road
m SMART SCHOLARS is never blocked up, because there are
so many terraces, and the ascending
Once a sage was asked why scholars person can always turn aside to another
always flock to the doors of the rich, terrace than that on which the descend¬
whilst the rich are not inclined to call
ing people go. By this arrangement all
at the doors of scholars. "The schol¬
troublesome thronging is avoided.
ars", he answered, "are well aware of
Alberuni's India
the use of money, but the rich are
%t>S.*À ignorant of the nobility of science."
Alberuni's India
THE PROPERTIES
OF CHINESE TEA
'SPEAK THE TRUTH"
It is said that chah is a Chinese
That man only is praiseworthy who word and Is meant for a herb which
shrinks from a lie and always adheres Al-Biruni related the story of grows at high altitudes there. It also
to the truth, enjoying credit even among the eagle which collected dia¬ grows in Katha and Nepal. Several
liars, not to mention others. monds. Many similar legends varieties of it are distinguished on the
describing how precious gems basis of its colour: some are white,
It has been said in the Koran, "Speak
were obtained in this way while the others are green, violet, grey
the truth, even if it were against flourished in the East. A num¬ and black.
yourselves" (Sûra, 4, 134); and the ber were recorded In the
Messiah expresses himself in the Gospel White tea is the most excellent variety
"Thousand and One Nights", and of the herb; its leaf is slender and
to this effect: "Do not mind the fury of
so reached the West, where
kings in speaking the truth before them. fragrant, and exerts its effect on the
they inspired engravings such
They only possess your body, but they body comparatively more swiftly than
as this, which appeared in all the other varieties. It is rare and
have no power over your soul."
"Hortus Sanitatis", published at
In these words the Messiah orders us not easily available, followed with regard
Mainz, Germany, In 1491.
to exercise moral courage. to availability by the green, violet, grey
and black varieties.
Alberuni's India
Many strange and unlikely tales are The people (of China and Tibet) cook
told about diamond mines and the way it, and preserve it In a cube-shaped
POWER OF MOONLIGHT these precious stones are obtained. It vessel after desiccating it. Tea has the
is said for example that the diamond is characteristics of water but is especially
That the moon has certain effects on
called the eagle's stone. . The origin benefical in overcoming the influence
moist substances, that they are appar¬ of this name is that diamond prospec¬ of tippling. For this reason it is taken
ently subject to her influences, that, tors are said to cover the nest in which
to Tibet where people habitually quaff
for instance, increase and decrease in
eaglets are lying with a piece of glass. considerable quantities of wine, and
ebb and flow develop periodically and The eagle can see its young but, unable there Is no better médecine for negating
parallel with the moon's phases, all this to reach them, it goes in search of the effect of liquor than this herb.
is well .known to the inhabitants of
diamonds, which it places on top of the Those who transport it to Tibet accept
seashores and seafaring people. glass. When a goodly number have nothing in barter but musk.

%agaEB£&^^
 In the book, Akhbar al-Sln it has Ironstone. Yet, we have never seen Thus, In summer, an observer in Bul¬
been stated that thirty bags of tea cost this stone and no one has described it gar looking In the direction of the sun¬
a dirham, and its taste is sweet coupled to us. In an anonymous work, it is said rise or sunset sees a part of the sky
with sourness. On boiling, however, that the best lodestone Is a reddish corresponding to that magnitude, whilst
the sourness disappears. black, followed by lodestone the colour the same part of the sky is not visible
The people (of China and Tibet) drink of fire. Some say that the most sought in Aden, being situated In a circle be¬
it. It is said that they drink it with after lodestone Is more plentiful in the neath the very Pole. Similarly, a part
hot water and believe it to be a chola- Zabtara region, on the eastern confines of the sky of similar magnitude is visi¬
gogue [promoting the flow of bile] and of the Roman Empire, than anywhere ble at sunrise and sunset In winter, when
blood purifier. A person who travelled else on earth. it is not visible in Bulgar.
to the place of its occurrence in China
It is said also that the hulls of ships This being the case, we may assert
has stated that the king of that country
built for crossing the Arabian Gulf are that a line traced on the Earth in the
resides in the city of Yanju. A big
bound with palm fibres threaded through direction of latitude, that is to say a
ÏZ&Ï
river like the Tigris traverses this city. m
Both sides of the river are studded
holes drilled in the planks, while the meridian, must of necessity be either
boards of ships sailing on the Medi¬ straight, or a concave or convex curve.
with wine sellers' tenements, kilns and
shops. People flock there to drink tea,
terranean are secured with iron nails. s»
The avoidance of nails in the former As regards the probability of its being
and do not take Indian cannabis clan¬
case is explained by the presence of a straight line... the facts themselves
destinely. The king of the place receives
hidden lodestone reefs in the Gulf, refute such a hypothesis, so that the
the capitation tax, and the public cannot
transact the sale of tea, since both
which could constitute a grave danger surface of the Earth cannot be flat in
for ships built with iron fixings. This this direction. As to the meridian being
tea and wine are in the possession of
is a far-fetched argument, however, concave, if It were, the height of the
the king. He who transacts business
because the ships that cross the Ara¬ Pole, that is to say the number of
in salt and tea without the king being
bian Gulf cannot dispense with anchors stars permanently visible in the far
aware of it is awarded the punishment
due to a thief.
and are always laden with Iron imple¬ south, would diminish as the obser¬
ments, notably weapon blades from ver moved northwards, becoming fewer
Profits from such places go to the India. and fewer the further north he went.
coffers of the king and such profits In fact, the opposite occurs, the number
Gems
equal those accruing from gold and of such stars becoming greater, which 5«a
silver mines. Some physicians have implies the convexity of the meridian
mentioned in their pharmacopoeia that and hence the curvature of the Earth.
tea Is the plant produced in China. The Thus the Earth is round in this direc¬ ra
people of that country make tablets tion too, and if the same is true both
from it and take them to foreign lands. in the directions of latitude and longi¬
These pharmacopoeia also describe tude, then the Earth's surface must be
the origin of tea. A Chinese king became spherical.
displeased with one of his courtiers
whom he exiled from the city in the Moreover, mountains, however high
direction of the mountains. The cour¬ they may be, do not alter this shape,
tier was seized by a fever, and one since they are small In comparison with
the whole and are mere wrinkles which
day he trudged, in a desperate state,
detract from the smoothness of its sur¬
towards the mountain valleys. He was
face but not from the roundness of
being gnawed by hunger, and he saw
the whole.
only tea plants, whose leaves he ate.
After a few days, his fever began to
If the observer still harbours certain
abate. He continued eating tea leaves
doubts and thinks that this curvature
till he recovered completely.
is characteristic only of the inhabited
Another courtier happened to pass parts of the Earth but not Its other
that way. He saw the courtier who parts... let us turn for confirmation to
had made this remarkable recovery, another argument, the Earth's shadow...
and informed the king about it. The If an object Is round, its shadow Is
15th Century engraving showing
king was surprised and he recalled round, if it Is triangular its shadow
the foundering of a ship on a
the exiled courtier and enquired from is triangular, if square then square, if
magnetic rock. From "Hortus
him the reason for his recovery. The oblong oblong, and so forth with other
Sanitatis", Mainz 1491.
courtier then narrated the remarkable
shapes.
medicinal properties of tea. m
The king thereupon ordered that tea When we observe an object casting
WHY THE EARTH IS ROUND
should be tested, and his physicians a shadow upon the Moon, we see that
enumerated its advantages to him. They its edges are rounded, especially near
As concerns the curvature of the
also began to incorporate tea in the fullest point of the eclipse when n«i3i
medicines. Earth in the directions between longi¬ we may see most of the circumference
tude and latitude, it may be ascertain¬ of the object casting the shadow and
Book on Pharmacy ed by means of the longest days in the roundness of the object, thus con¬
and Materia Medica the towns we have mentioned. Let us
cluding that the Intersection of the part :<i-s
consider, for instance, the town of Bul- of the Earth illuminated by the Sun and
gar, in the far north, and the town the part casting the shadow ¡s a cir¬
THE LODESTONE of Aden, lying far to the south of it. cle... Since such intersections are nu¬
In and around Aden, the length of the merous, corresponding in number to the
Like amber, the lodestone has the longest day is little more than twelve number of observations and since they
property of attraction. But It renders hours, whilst in Bulgar it is little less concern different parts of the Earth,
greater service, because it can draw than seventeen hours. There is a dif¬
yet all have this in common, that they
a blade from a wound, the point of a ference of two hours between the hours
all throw a rounded shadow upon the
lancet from a vein or a metal ring of sunrise and sunset in those two Moon, there can be no doubt as to
swallowed and lying In the stomach. towns. Consequently, at the time of the shape of the Earth, which is Indeed
According to Dioscorides, the best lode- sunrise over Aden, the Sun has already confirmed to be rounded on all sides.
stones are the colour of lapis lazuli. risen to a height of two hours' travel
When burnt, the lodestone becomes red in the sky over Bulgar. The Mas'udic Canon on Astronomy

vernimm
 Ï?*WS

THE CAPRICIOUS more bias for it than another, which I spared neither energy nor money
must not be construed as proving In order to achieve my purpose and I
TURQUOISE
intelligence or ignorance; for we find constructed a hemisphere 10 cubits [5.4
We have ceased to prize the turquoise that many Intelligent people are entirely metres] in diameter, on which to base
since it changes rapidly with changes given to alchemy, whilst ignorant people the longitudes and latitudes of the
ridicule the art and its adepts. Those places and towns as calculated from
In the skies, as they clear or are cover¬
ed with cloud, and also with the caprice intelligent people, though boisterously their distances, since time did not allow

of the wind. Further, perfumes diminish exulting over their make-believe science, me to use mathematical calculations,

the brillance of the turquoise, toilet water are not to be blamed for occupying the distances being so many and the
attacks its lustre and unguents dull it themselves with alchemy, for their calculations so long.
completely. For these reasons the tur¬ motive is simply excessive eagerness
The Determination
quoise does not rank as a precious for acquiring fortune and for avoiding
misfortune. of the Co-ordinates of Cities (Geodesy)
stone. It Is thought to come from a
"mud which has petrified". It may be Alberuni's India
polished with grease or the fatty tail of
THE MISER & THE BOOK
the sheep. That Is why it flashes with
a brillant fire in the hands of a butcher,
"He who Just collects boot« and
particularly one who has flayed an ani¬
prides himself on their possession is
mal's skin, while grasping it with his like a miser who fills his chests and
hand.
locks them."
Gems
Book on Pharmacy
and Materia Medica

fi
INDIA WAS ONCE A SEA
25 WAYS TO FREEDOM
... If you have seen the soil of India
with your own eyes and meditate on According to the Hindu philosophers,
its nature if you consider the rounded liberation is common to all castes and
stones found in the earth however to the whole human race, if their inten¬
deeply you dig, stones that are huge tion of obtaining it is perfect. This view
near the mountains and where the is based on the saying of Vyâsa: "Learn
rivers have a violent current; stones to know the twenty-five things (I. e. the
that are of smaller size at greater twenty-five elements of existence)
distance from the mountains, and where thoroughly. Then you may follow
the streams flow more slowly; stones AI-Blrunl used a vase similar whatever religion you like; you will no
that appear pulverized in the form of to this to calculate the specific doubt be liberated."
sand where the streams begin to stag¬ gravity of various substances Alberuni's India
m nate near their mouths and near the such as metals and stones.

sea if you consider all this, you can Ingeniously constructed, the
scarcely help thinking that India has vessel enabled him to ascertain THE GEOMETRY OF FLOWERS
once been a sea which by degrees has the volume of water displaced
been filled up by the alluvium of the by an immersed object and so Among the peculiarities of the flowers
streams. determine its specific gravity there is one really astonishing fact, viz.
Alberuni's India with a high degree of accuracy. the number of their petals, the tops of
He put the specific gravity of which form a circle when they begin
gold at 19.0 (it is actually 19.3), to open, is in most cases conformable
Iron at 7.92 (actually 7.9) and to the laws of geometry. In most cases
WITCHCRAFT AND SCIENCE
lapis-lazuli at 3.91 (3.90). they agree with the chords that have
been found by the laws of geometry,
We understand by witchcraft, making not with conic sections.
by some kind of delusion a thing appear ON-THE-SPOT OBSERVATION
to the senses as something different You scarcely ever find a flower of
from what it is in reality. Taken in Reliance on personal observation and 7 or 9 petals, for you cannot construct
this sense, it is far spread among peo¬ on-the-spot examination enhance the them according to the laws of geometry
ple. Understood, however, as common capacity to remember and distinguish in a circle as isosceles (triangles). The
people understand it, as the producing facts and also to Identify objects, not number of their petals, is always 3 or 4
of something which is impossible, it Is or 5 or 6 or 18. This is a matter of
only in pharmacy but in other pro¬
a thing which does not lie within the fessions and crafts. Gathering data frequent occurrence. Possibly one may
limits of reality. For as that which Is through direct handling and observation find one day some species of flowers
impossible cannot be produced, the is a greater advantage to be encourag¬ with 7 or 9 petals, or one may find
whole affair is nothing but a gross ed over mere reading of books. among the species hitherto known such
deception. Therefore witchcraft In this a number of petals; but, on the whole,
sense has nothing whatever to do with Book on Pharmacy one must say nature preserves Its
science. and Materia Medica genera and species such as they are.

One of the species of witchcraft is For If you would, for example, count
alchemy, though it is generally not called the number of seeds of one of the
A HEMISPHERE
by this name. But if a man takes a (many) pomegranates of a tree, you
10 CUBITS IN DIAMETER
bit of cotton and makes It appear as would find that all the other pomegra¬
m a bit of gold, what would you call this nates contain the same number of
I began by correcting the distances
but a piece of witchcraft? It is quite seeds as that one the seeds of which
and the names of places and towns,
the same as if he were to take a bit you have counted first. So, too, nature
basing my work on what I had heard
of silver and make It appear as gold, about those who had visited those
proceeds in all other matters.
only with this difference, that the latter places and what I could learn from Frequently, however, you find in the
is a generally-known process, I. e. the the mouths of those who had seen functions (actions) of nature which it is
gilding of silver, the former Is not. them. I took the precaution of verify¬ her office to fulfil, some fault (some
The Hindus do not pay particular ing the reliability of the material and irregularity) ... I, however, do not call
attention to alchemy, but no nation is of comparing the evidence of different them "faults of nature", but rather a
entirely free from it, and one nation has witnesses. superfluity of material beyond the due
 m%z&

%&$&

proportions of the measure of everything. the economy of nature. It removes nature nor of the cause of the matter
To this category belong, for example, them so as make room for others. in question.
animals with supernumerary limbs,
If thus the earth is ruined, or is near Chronology of Ancient Nations
which occur sometimes, when nature,
to be ruined, by having too many
whose task it is to preserve the species
inhabitants, its ruler for it has a ruler,
as they are, finds some superfluous
and his all-embracing care is apparent
substance, which she forms into some PARABLE OF THE
in every single particle of it sends it
shape instead of throwing it away. FOUR PUPILS
a messenger for the purpose of reducing
Chronology of Ancient Nations the too great number and of cutting
away all that is evil. A man Is travelling together with his
pupils for some business or other
Alberuni's India

AN AGE OF IMITATORS
towards the end of the night. There
appears something standing erect before
them on the road, the nature of which IjSP
The most important requirement of THE NATURE OF TIME
medicine is that the man of medicine it is impossible to recognize on account
should examine the terms of reference Some people maintain that time of the darkness of night. The man
as regards natural science and should consists of cycles, at the end of which turns towards his pupils, and asks them,
all created beings perish, whilst they one after the other, what it is. The
be fully acquainted with the natural
grow at their beginning; that each such first says: "I do not know what it is." The
laws. When he comes to the resolution
cycle has a special Adam and Eve of second says: "I do not know, and I have
of the ingredients of a drug every medi¬
its own, and that the chronology of this no means of learning what it is." The
cinal ingredient is arrayed in a different
cycle depends upon them. Other people, third says "It is useless to examine
aspect before him and each one has
properties that argue differently. This again, maintain that in each cycle a what it is, for the rising of the day will
is what the art of pharmacy should special Adam and Eve exist for each reveal it. If it is something terrible,
country in particular, and that hence the it will disappear at daybreak; if it is
achieve, but alasl ours is an age of l¿f¿s
blind imitation, and people mostly go difference of human structure, nature, something else, the nature of the thing
and language is to be derived. will anyhow be clear to us." Now, none
by hearsay. Only he who sedulously
learns from the masters the fundamen¬ of them had attained to knowledge, the
Other people, besides, hold this
tals of the art and follows their di¬
first, because he was ignorant; the
foolish persuasion, viz that time has no PS
second, because he was incapable, and
rections can ever hope to achieve terminus a quo at all.
had no means of knowing; the third,
mastery.
Now, personal observation alone, and because he was indolent and acquiesced
Book on Pharmacy
conclusions inferred therefrom, do not in his ignorance. TÓV
and Materia Medica
prove a long duration of the human life,
The fourth pupil, howeyer, did not
and the huge size of human bodies, and
give an answer. He stood still, and
what else has been related to be beyond
then he went on In the direction of the
the limits of possibility. For similar
object. On coming near, he found that
matters appear in the course of time
it was pumpkins on which there lay a
in manifold shapes. There are certain
tangled mass of something. Now he
things which are bound to certain times,
knew that a living man, endowed with
within which they turn round In a certain
free will, does not stand still In his
order, and which undergo transfor¬
place until such a tangled mass Is
mations as long as there is a possibility
formed on his head, and he recognized
of their existing. If they, now, are not
at once that It was a lifeless object
observed as long as they are in
standing erect. Further, he could not
existence, people think them to be im¬
be sure if it was not a hidden place
probable, and hasten to reject them as
for some dunghill. So he went quite
altogether impossible.
close to It, struck against it with his
Photo © Gérard Dufresne, Paris This applies to all cyclical occurrences, foot till it fell to the ground. Thus all
In his treatise on precious such as the mutual impregnation of doubt having been removed, he returned
stones, al-Biruni wrote, "I used animals and trees, and the forthcoming to his master and gave him the exact
to have a disc of onyx, on of the seeds and their fruits. For, if it account.

which wavy lines formed the were possible that men did not know
Alberuni's India
perfect figure of a duck, the these occurrences, and then were led m
legs being invisible as if it was to a tree, stripped of its leaves, and
were told what occurs to the tree of
swimming or sitting on its eggs;
getting green, of producing blossoms SOLAR AND LUNAR YEARS
the representation was faultless,
as if done by a skilful artist" and fruits, etc., they would certainly m
This figured onyx shows not a think it improbable, till they saw it with ... People distinguish two kinds of
duck but a fish. It Is part of their own eyes. It Is for the same years the Solar year and the Lunar
the private collection of the reason that people, who come from year. They have not used other stars wm
writer Roger Caillois, of the
northern countries, are filled with ad¬ for the purpose of deriving years from
Académie Française. miration when they see palm-trees, them, because their motions are compar¬
olive-trees, and myrtle-trees, and others atively hidden, and can hardly ever be
standing in full-bloom at wintertime, found out by eyesight; but only by astro¬
since they never saw anything like It in nomical observations and experiments...
LAWS OF NATURE their own country.
The Solar Year. According to the
Further, there are other things statement of Theon (1), In his Canon, m
. . . The bees kill those of their kind
occurring at times In which no cyclical the people of Constantinople, and of
who only eat, but do not work in their
order Is apparent, and which seem to Alexandria, and the other Greeks, the
beehive.
happen at random. If, then, the time Syrians and Chaldaeans, the Egyptians
Nature proceeds in a similar way; In which the thing occurred has gone of our time... all use the solar year,
however, It does not distinguish, for its by, nothing remains of it except the which consists of nearly 365 i days.
action is under all circumstances one report about it. And if you find In such They reckon their year as 365 days, and
and the same. It allows the leaves and a report all the conditions of authenticity, add the quarters of a day in every fourth
fruit of the trees to perish, thus pre¬ and if the thing might have already year as one complete day... This year
venting them from realizing that result occurred before that time, you must
which they are intended to produce in accept it, though you have no Idea of the

- À "7 f .

í^mi^^í^:<^i^^tí^:íyíí-^Crí2^:^^í^
they call an intercalary year, because consists of the various configurations dry wax, possibly the saltiness of the
the quarters are intercalated therein. of heavenly bodies which are themselves water would diminish. This has been

The ancient Egyptians followed the same contingent on the chosen points on mentioned by the experimenters, who go
practice, but with this difference, that the heavenly sphere itself or on a certain so far as to maintain that if you make
they neglected the quarters of a day relationship between that and the hori¬ a thin vase of wax and place it ¡n sea
till they had summed up to the number zon. Astrology therefore can never water, so that the mouth of the vase
of days of one complete year, which produce positive results since its very emerges above the water, those drops
took place in 1,460 years; then they basis is unreliable. of water which splash over into the
Intercalated one year. vase become sweet.
How indeed could it be reliable, when
the exact location of the object for If all salt water were mixed with so
The Persians followed the same rule
which the calculations are made and for much sweet water as would overpower
as long as their empire lasted; but they.,
which the future is foretold by means its nature, in that case their theory
treated it differently. For they reckoned
of horoscopes of "conjunctions" and would be realized (i.e. all salt waters
their year as 365 days, and neglected
"oppositions" is unknown and when the would become sweet). An example of
the following fractions until the day-
actual positions of these configurations this process is afforded by the lake of
quarters had summed up in the course
conflict with those which are used I Tlnnis, the water of which is sweet in
of 120 years to the number of days of
autumn and winter in consequence of
one complete month and until the fifth The Determination
the great admixture of the water of the
parts of an hour, which, according to of the Co-ordinates of Cities (Geodesy) Nile, whilst at the other seasons it is
their opinion, follow the fourth parts of
salt, because there is very little ad¬
a day (i.e. they give the solar year the mixture of Nile water.
length of 365 i days and 1/5 hour), had ON LEARNING
summed up to one day; then they added Chronology of Ancient Nations
the complete month to the year in each
Learning is the fruit of repetition.
116th year.
Alberuni's India
w
The Luni-Solar Year. The Hebrews, QUALITIES OF ARABIC
Jews, and all the Israelites, the Sâbians,
All the arts of the world have been
and Harrânians, used an intermediate THE PERFUMER'S ART
system. They derived their year from transferred to the Arabic language; it
the revolution of the sun, and its months has penetrated deep into our hearts,
Dari was a port in the old days where
from the revolution of the moon with and its charms have crossed into
scents and perfumes were unloaded
this view, that their feast and fast days the innermost reaches of our being,
and therefrom perfumers went from
might be regulated by lunar computation, although to every people their own
one city to another selling them, or
and at the same time keep their places language appears to be sweet, since
bought by the people of the Quraysh
within the year. Therefore they inter¬ they use it day in, day out.
tribe. The Quraysh possessed a
calated 7 months In 19 lunar years. When I observe my language, I find
masterly expertise in this art. It Is
that if any art is rendered Into it, it
because of this that the Arabs call
Chronology of Ancient Nations would look de trop and odd. On the
apothecaries Dari. In the hadith the
other hand, if the same art is rendered
Holy Prophet (peace be on Him) said:
Into Arabic, it would look natural and
"The example of a noble and sincere
ON HINDU RELIGIONS good, even though Arabic does not
person is like that of a Dari whose
happen to be my mother tongue.
perfumes, even if he does not give any m
Everything which exists on this subject of them to you, will all the same have Book on Pharmacy
[the religions of the Hindus] in our their pleasant smell; and a bad com¬ and Materia Medica
literature is second-hand information
panion is like an ironsmith who, even
which one has copied from the other, though he may not singe you with the m
a farrago of materials never sifted by sparks of his furnace will at least
the sieve of critical examination. THE RUSE OF
harass you with its smoke."
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
...I have written this book on the
Book on Pharmacy
doctrines of the Hindus, never making and Materia Medica Some say that the diamond was
m
any unfounded imputations against brought by the Bicornutus (Alexander
those, our religious antagonists, and the Great) from the valley of the dia¬
at the same time not considering it monds, a valley teeming with snakes.
THE DESALTING
inconsistent with my duties as a Muslim Whoever set eyes on these reptiles
to quote their own words at full length OF WATER
would instantly perish. The Bicornutus
when I thought they would contribute to advanced on the snakes with a mirror
elucidate a subject. If the contents of People say that on the 6th [of January]
these quotations happen to be utterly there is an hour during which all salt
water of the earth becomes sweet. All
carried by men who were hidden behind
it. When the snakes saw their reflec¬
m
m
heathenish, and the followers of the
tions, they died on the spot. Yet these
truth, I. e. the Muslims, find them the qualities occurring in the water
snakes had looked upon each other
objectionable, we can only say that such depend exclusively upon the nature of
without dying and the sight of the real
is the belief of the Hindus, and that they that soil by which the water is enclosed,
thing should have been more deadly
themselves are best qualified to if it be standing, or over which the water
than the mere reflection.
defend it. flows, if it be running. Those qualities
are of a stable nature, not to be altered Gems
Alberuni's India
except by a process of transformation
from degree to degree by means of
certain media. Therefore this statement

of the waters becoming sweet in this MUSLIM ADAGE

THE WEAK FOUNDATIONS
one hour is entirely unfounded.
OF ASTROLOGY "Your knowledge should not be like
Continual and leisurely experimen¬ the clothes that you wear, and not likely
The art of astrology in general is tation will show to any one the futility to be washed away while you are taking
built upon weak foundations and its of this assertion. For if the water were
your bath."
deductions are Insubstantial. Its calcul¬ sweet It would remain sweet for some
Adage quoted by al-Biruni.
ations are confused and it is mostly space of time. Nay, if you would
supposition rather than reliable know¬ place in this hour or any other in a Book on Pharmacy i'H'^ï.;'
ledge. The subject matter of astrology well of salt water some pounds of pure and Materia Medica

MiâïM&M&&Ê: ,
 AL-BIRUNI vs. AVICENNA
IN THE BOUT
OF THE CENTURY
Two geniuses aged 24 and 17
debate the nature of the universe

by
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
I |N the rich tradition of ten questions pertaining to Aristotle's
Islamic intellectual history there are De Cáelo (On the Heavens) and eight
several instances in which leading other questions posed by al-Biruni
thinkers have left in writing the himself. These are answered by
exchanges of ideas and debates which Avicenna one by one. Then al-Blruni
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR, rector of Arya- they have carried out with each other once again responds to Avicenna's
mehr University, in Teheran, is the author on the highest Intellectual level. answers, discussing eight of the first
of a remarkable study on al-Biruni, published ten and seven of the last eight
in his "An Introduction to Islamic Cosmo- One of the most important is the
series of Questions and Answers questions. Finally Ma'sumi answers
logical Doctrines" (Harvard University Press,
1964), in which he dealt with al-Biruni, Avi¬ al-Biruni once again on behalf of
exchanged between al-Blruni and
cenna and Ikwan al-Safa. Professor of the Avicenna.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) in which Avicenna's
History of Science and Philosophy at Arya-
mehr University, he has devoted another student Ma'sumi, also took part. This There are then altogether two sets
book to great Islamic scholars, "Three Mus¬ series of exchanges stands as a peak of exchanges on some of the most
lim Sages" (Avicenna, Suhrawardi and Ibn of Islamic intellectual history and a key
'Arabi) published by Harvard University Press. fundamental points of "natural phil¬
Last year his "Al-Biruni end Ibn Sina - Ques¬ to the understanding of an aspect of osophy" between al-Blruni, the "in¬
tions and Answers" was published by the al-Biruni's thought not discussed dependent" scientist and thinker, and
High Council of Culture and Art in Teheran. extensively in his other writings. Avicenna the most eminent represen¬
Our text is abridged from the English
introduction to this work. The Questions and Answers, include tative of the Islamic Peripatetic (ma-
CONTINUED PAGE 29
 ¿# «i

4 *

"l\Ä
w

Two further scenes from the forth¬

coming film on al-Biruni. Above, the

AL-BIRUNI ON THE SCREEN (continued) great scientist and an assistant discuss
a reading from the quadrant he cons¬
tructed for determining latitude
by
measuring the sun's elevation. Below
left, al-Biruni (right of photo) talks with
an Indian sage during the travels he

Photos N. Kasyanov j APN, Tachkent

 AL-BIRUNI vs. AVICENNA (Continued)

shsha'i) school, and one of his fore¬ states that according to Aristotle
most pupils, Abu Sa'id ibn Ali al- vision results from the eye becoming
Ma'sumi. affected by the "qualities" of visible
colours contained in the air that is in
In one question al-Biruni criticizes
the reasons given in Aristotelian contact with it. According to this
natural philosophy for denying that the theory the problem mentioned by al-
Biruni does not arise since both water
celestial spheres have gravity or levity.
Al-Biruni does not reject the view of and air are transparent bodies that
can transmit the colours to the sense
Aristotle but criticizes the reasons

given to sustain such a view. of sight, thus making vision possible.

Moreover, he attacks the Aristotelian If there is no vacuum either inside
thesis that circular motion is innate or outside this world, al-Biruni asks,
to heavenly bodies, asserting that why is it that if the air within a flask
although the heavenly bodies do move is sucked out water rises up in it?
in circular motion, such a motion could Avicenna answers that this is not due
be "forced" and accidental while the to a vacuum. Rather, a certain amount
motion natural to these bodies could
of the air remaining in the flask
be straight. contracts as a result of the coldness

Avicenna replies to these objections of the water causing the water to rise
along the lines of argument presented within the flask.
in standard works of Aristotelian
If things expand through heating and
natural philosophy.
contract through cooling then why, al-
In another question al-Biruni criticizes Biruni asks, does a flask full of water
Aristotle's over-reliance on the views break when the water within it freezes?
of the ancients and his oredecessors Avicenna believes that it is the air
concerning the conditions of the which upon being cooled contracts,
heavens without relying upon his almost causing a vacuum to be created
own observation. Al-Biruni gives an in the flask, and since that is not
example of the Hindu description of possible, causing the flask to break.
mountains which he says cannot be
Finally, al-Biruni queries, why does
relied upon because If one observes
ice float on water while its earthy parts
them today one sees that they have
are more than water and it is therefore
altered.
heavier than water? Avicenna replies
Avicenna reminds al-Biruni of the
that upon freezing ice preserves in its
difference between mountains which internal spaces and lattices airy parts
undergo generation and corruption and which prevent it from sinking in water.
the celestial bodies which do not do so.
Furthermore, he accuses al-Biruni of An examination of the questions
having learned this argument from posed by al-Biruni reveals their vital
either John Philoponus, who was significance for the history of science.
In Islamic civilization the main school
opposed to Aristotle because he
himself was a Christian, or Mohammed of natural philosophy which served as
ibn Zakariyya' al-Razi, who according the immediate philosophical back¬
to Avicenna should have remained ground for most Muslim scientists was
content with medicine and not meddled the Peripatetic, itself a synthesis of
the views of Aristotle, his Alexandrian
in metaphysics, in which he had no
commentators and certain elements of
competence.
later Neoplatonism. Avicenna in his
Peripatetic writings represents this
main current in its most mature form.

undertook before writing his monu¬ But there was also an anti-Aristo¬
kL-BIRUNI criticizes the
mental "India". Below right, the film telian current which is of much
Aristotelian denial of the possibility
crew on location. The film is being
of the existence of another world importance for an understanding of
directed by Shukhrat Abbasov (wearing
completely different from the one we Islamic science, to which the questions
cap) from a scenario written by the
know, and unknown to us because of al-Biruni belong. Some of the anti-
historian and orientalist Pavlov Bulga¬ Aristotelian elements derived from
it is completely veiled to our senses.
kov, al-Biruni's Russian translator.
He cites as illustration the fact that schools related to the Pythagorean-
it is impossible for the person who Hermetic heritage of Antiquity such as
is born blind to conceive of vision. the writings of Jabir ibn Hayyan and
In the same way there might be other the Ikhwan al-Safa' while others issued

worlds for the perception of which from the logical criticism of individual
man does not have the necessary philosophers and scientists such as
faculties. Avicenna accepts the exist¬ Mohammed ibn Zakariyya' al-Ra^i and
ence of other worlds which differ from al-Biruni.
this world but defends the Aristotelian
Al-Biruni's criticism of Peripatetic
view that there cannot be another
natural philosophy is one of the
world such as this with the same ele¬
sharpest attacks on this dominant
ments and nature.
school. It touches upon the most
After these questions which are difficult and thorny problems of Aristo¬
related to Aristotle's De Cáelo, al- telian physics and for that reason
Biruni poses eight other questions resembles some of the arguments
himself related to natural philosophy. against this form of physics by
Renaissance and 17th century scientists
Al-Biruni, for example, asks how
vision is possible. Why can we see
in the West, although the point of view QJ
of al-Biruni is ven' different from that Lm
beneath water whereas water is an
of the Western critics of Aristotle.
opaque body which should reflect the
rays of light at its surface? Avicenna Seyyed Hossein Nasr
 LOST HORIZONS

IN THE

LAND OF POETRY
The vanished works

of a scientist
by
turned man of letters Zabihollah Safa

I |T is sometimes difficult in Arabic as well as Persian. Al- Yaqut's bibiography of al-Biruni

to make a distinction between the Biruni, an author of serious scientific shows that the latter wrote a consi¬
"scholar" and the "man of letters" of works, also wrote poetry in Arabic, derable number of literary and critical
Islamic civilization. In both the Arab and others, such as the great 12th cen¬ works: among many others, an Arabic
and the Persian worlds, the two tury mathematician, philosopher and etymology, commentaries on the poems
cornerstones of Islamic literature, it doctor, Omar Khayyam, became so of the great Arabic poet Abi Tamman,
frequently happens that great scholars well known for their literary work that and even an anthology entitled " Selec¬
in the fields of philosophy, medicine, their names have been handed down tion of Verse and Literary Works".
natural history or mathematics are also to posterity as poets rather than as One of his most important works,
poets and men of letters. scholars.
of a literary rather than a scientific
In some cases they even put aside These are but a few of the many stamp, deals with his native region of
their scientific preoccupations and set examples we could quote, for Arabic Khwarizm. Although this book was
about recounting or writing tales or and Persian literary history is rich in widely known during the 11th and
anecdotes. Philosophers and thinkers such many-sided talents. At that 12th centuries, it has since disap¬
such as Avicenna and al-Blruni, in the peared. Fortunately, part of It is quoted
time the language of science was
11th century, and Suhrawardl In the Arabic, and the approach to any by the 11th century Persian writer-
12th, have thus left behind them novels scientific discipline necessarily invol¬ historian Balaghl, and the fragment
and stories written in Arabic or In which has reached us demonstrates
ved learning Arabic. In Irano-Arablc
Arabic and Persian.
schools the teaching of Arabic lan¬ al-Biruni's scrupulous and Impartial
research into historical events, their
Avicenna wrote two well-known guage and literature preceded all
other subjects; Arabic prose and causes and their consequences.
philosophical novels In Arabic, which
foreshadowed certain later Persian poetry were used as a means to enable The value of al-Biruni's work lies

works. pupils to benefit from text books in the vast scope of his knowledge,
Islamic scholars found a welcome written in Arabic, and students learned which, particularly in respect to pre-
by heart works of prose and verse Islamic nations, was not shared by
source of diversion in writing poetry,
by leading writers and poets. his contemporaries. This is largely
and there are very few Iranian scholars
who did not at some time or another
due to his command of languages
This meant that the student began Iranian, Arabic, Syriac and Sanskrit
apply themselves to verse in Arabic Islamic schooling with an introduction were as familiar to him as Soghdian,
or Persian. One of the earliest among to Arabic, which he continued to study
them Is al-Farabl, some of whose
the language of his native Khwarizm.
throughout his life, and which often He was also able to use Arabic
quatrains in Persian are still extant. led him to an interest in literature, even translations of works written In Greek
At a later date when scholars when his main preoccupation was the and Syriac.
versified to their heart's content, Avi¬ rational study of a specific field of Al-Biruni was of both a serious and
cenna became a prolific writer of verse science. So it is hardly surprising that
lighthearted turn of mind; perhaps his
the great scientist-scholar al-Biruni
penchant for humour and jokes was
became interested In literature and
a counterweight to the scientific rigour
ZABIHOLLAH SAFA is the author of a book composed verses for his own pleasure.
of his studies. In his personal rela¬
on the life and works of al-Biruni. He is
president of the Iranian National Commission Yaqut of Hama examined some of tionships and in his conversation, as
for Unesco and professor of literature at the al-Biruni's literary works in the library his biographers have noted, he reveals
University of Teheran. He has written several a pleasant open nature and a spirited
at Marw (or Merv) shortly before the
works on Avicenna, and is now compiling
Mongol invasion of Khorassan in the wit. Occasionally, he surprises his
for Unesco an annotated bibliography in
30 Arabic and Persian on the writings of al-
Biruni. He also prepared, for Unesco's
13th century. The vestiges of Merv, readers by the use of earthy terms in
his poems.
former capital of Khorassan, can still
Collection of Representative Works, the
"Anthologie de la Poésie Persane", published
be seen near the modern city of Mary It may have been this trait that led
by Editions Gallimard, Paris, in 1964. in the Soviet Turkmenistan Republic. him to translate or write a number of
 Qassim al-sorur wa'ayn al-hayat is
another tale put into verse by Onsori.
It has never been clearly established
whether the original was written by
Onsori or by al-Biruni, but neither
version exists today.

"Urmasdyar and Mehryar" is an old

story adapted by al-Biruni; the names
indicate that it is certainly of Iranian
origin.

"The Two Idols of Bamian", a folk

tale adapted by al-Biruni, Is about two
Buddhist statues, a man and a woman,
carved in the rock of a mountainside
at Bamian, near Balkh in northern
Afghanistan. The statues still exist
and the local people, believing that
they were two lovers who were turned
to stone, still recount their adventures
and the reason for their metamor¬
phosis. The story was also put Into
verse by Onsori, under the title "The
Red Idol and the White Idol". This
story, like that of "Dadmeh and Gera-
midokht", has also disappeared. "Ni-
nufar" (water Illy), the last of these
Al-Biruni wrote several novels which unfortunately have not come down to us.
One of these, entitled The Two Idols of Bamian, is about two Buddhist statues,
works appears to have been a tale of
of a man and a woman, carved from the face of a huge cliff of Bamian in Hindu origin.
northwest Afghanistan. The now famous cliff is honeycombed with caves,
The six titles clearly demonstrate al-
which provide a dramatic setting for numerous carvings and paintings. The
Biruni's interest in legend;, it is unfor¬
two colossal stone Buddhas, stand majestically in the shelter of the rock,
tunate that they should have been
dominating the entire valley. Above, the smaller of the two (35 metres high).
The larger statue stands 53 metres high. The sculptures date from the 4th-5th
lost, for they would have provided
century A.D. excellent material for analysis. From
the narrative skill and descriptive
popular or folk romances while en¬ Azra", an ancient legend of Greek
power al-Biruni displays in his various
gaged In exacting scientific work. In origin which found its way Into Pahlavi
works, especially when dealing with
the inventory of his writings, which he literature, is a love story. Onsori, a
historical or contemporary subjects,
made when he was 65 years old, he poet of the time, seems to have used
lists six novels, which have all unfor¬ one can easily imagine the excellence
this as a source of inspiration for his
of the stories that have disappeared.
tunately been lost. Works by other own poetic work, "Vamegh and Azra";
authors and poets, however, record it was at a much later date that several In short, in addition to some twelve
passages from these novels, but it Is other poets put this tale Into verse. thousand pages of erudite and scien¬
not known whether they were written
in Arabic or in Persian.
It Is worth noting here that the story tific writing, this prodigiously indus¬ 31
also entered Persian literature through trious scholar produced a great number
pseudo-Callisthenes' novel on Alexan¬ of literary works: Arabic poetry,
The adventure of "Vamegh and der the Great romances, etymology, literary criticism,
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
 LOST HORIZONS (Continued)

history which in Islamic civilization is

a part of literature.
It is interesting to note that both
'FATHER' OF
Arabic, the scientific language of Islam,
and Persian, were greatly enriched by
the contributions of the major scholars
of Iranian
civilization
origin
within
and
the
of the
Iranian
Islamic
cultural
ARABIC PHARMACY
sphere living at the beginning of this
civilization (between the late 8th cen¬
tury and the end of the 12th century).
This was brought about firstly by the
IN MEDIEVAL
addition of many words, phrases,
explanations and expressions from
Greek, Syriac, Pahlavi and Hindu, with
a few minor changes In pronunciation;
secondly, by the translation of scien¬
ISLAM
tific expressions and terminology; and
finally, by the invention of turns of
phrase or expressions using the rules
and the flexibility of Arabic and Persian
grammar.

The debating skill of such scholars by Hakim Mohammed Said

as al-Biruni, Avicenna, Suhrawadi,
among others, contributed greatly to
the elucidation of many concepts in the
field of philosophy and disputation in
the Arabic and Persian languages.
Al-Biruni was one of the master-
artisans of this enrichment.

What differentiates him especially is

I ORE than nine hundred interesting to see how al-Blruni over¬
his knowledge of Sanskrit and Syriac,
Greek texts and ancient* Iranian sour¬ years have passed since al-Biruni came the problem.

ces, by virtue of which he introduced wrote his Book on Pharmacy (the Kitab
One of the advantages that al-Biruni
a considerable number of words, al-Saydanah, or Saydalah), a work that
enjoyed was his command over both
expressions and turns of phrase Into has rightly earned him the title of Persian and Arabic and his own
the Arabic and Persian languages. Father of Arabic Pharmacy in medieval Khwarizmian dialect. He lived on the
Islam.
His Pharmacology gives ample evi¬ fringe of the Iranian mainland, and had
dence of this. In this work each Today the science of medicine Is an intimate knowledge of Persian
characterized by disciplines unknown customs and traditions, and, since most
drug is named ¡n Persian (Pahlavi),
in al-Biruni's age. A proper appraisal of his extant works are in Arabic, felt
Arabic, Greek, Syriac and Sanskrit,
even more at home with the Arab
and sometimes even in local dialects of al-Biruni's work can, therefore, only
of the Iranian plateau, together with be made by referring to his age and background, although he never visited
directions for its use. Its composition its standards. the Arab part of the world.
and cases where its use would be The procedure that he commonly
Lest It be understood that al-Biruni's
harmful, written in Arabic. This book adopts with regard to the description
book is concerned with the aetiology
alone would suffice to establish al- of a drug is that he first discusses it
of diseases and their treatment, it must
Biruni's contribution to the enrichment under its Arabic name, and then
be made clear that this is by no
of Arabic (see following article). examines its equivalents in other
means the case. In fact, it is a
The same considerations apply to treatise on materia medica, patterned languages, finally establishing its iden¬
the only book of his which is written somewhat on the Ist century A.D. tity. For example, if a drug is known
in Persian and which is still extant, treatise of the Greek physician Dios- as hum al-majus in Arabic and arzad
namely the Astrology, where his corides, which lists 600 medicinal maghushi in Syriac, the probability is
terminology shows extensive use of plants.
that it is the same drug, that is, the
Sanskrit and Pahlavi sources. Magian plant, which is today known
But al-Biruni sets forth five times by the botanical name of Ephedra
Al-Biruni's literary work adds a
as many medicinal plants as Diosco- pachyclada from which the alkaloid,
particularly engaging aspect to his rides, although he makes the latter the ephedrin, is extracted.
complex genius. It presents an In¬ main source on which to base his
exhaustible field of linguistic research, Primarily a geodesist, geographer,
discussion of the drugs. It has,
which Iranologists have now begun to mathematician and historian, during the
however, been said that the description
investigate. course of his sojourn in Afghanistan
of the drugs, given by Dioscorides, is
and north India, he studied the customs
At the start of the present century so vague as to make most of them,
Carra de Vaux, the French orientalist, of different people at close quarters.
with the exception of about a hundred
wrote in his basic study "Thinkers of In short, he was a polymath who aimed
drugs, unidentifiable today. It is rather
at what is known in Arabic as takhrij
Islam": "Like other great thinkers of
the more recent past, a Leonardo da (extraction of the essence). One
Vinci or a Leibniz, al-Biruni combines cannot say that he was as much of
the most varied talents. Philosopher, a rationalist in science as the Egyptian
historian, traveller, linguist, scholar and scientist Ibn al-Haytham (he was not);
HAKIM MOHAMMED SAID, a medical doctor nevertheless, he knows how to sift the
poet, mathematician, astronomer and of Pakistan, is president of the Hamdard
geographer, he has left his mark in all National Foundation, Karachi. This founda¬ grain and separate it from the chaff.
these spheres . . . spanning the gap of tion, devoted to scientific and medical
One may smile today on reading
research, has ¡ust published "Al-Biruni's Book
time, he is a figure whose youthfulness that, after the hatching of the eggs
on Pharmacy and Materia Medica" (two
32 strikes us today; it is as though he
stands out and breaks away from his
volumes, Karachi, 1973), the first translation
into English of the complete text of al-Blruni's-
of the timsah (skink lizard), the off¬
spring either make their way to the
own era and comes to meet us." Pharmacology". Dr. Said was the organizer
river and become crocodiles, or remain
of the AI-Birunl International Congress, held
Zabihollah Safa in Karachi, last November. on land and become skink lizards.

CONTINUED PAGE 34
A binomial method

of classifying plants
seven centuries before Linnaeus

Al-Biruni has rightly

been called the Father
of Arab Pharmacy in
medieval Islam. In his

"Book on Pharmacy
and Materia Medica",
he laid down the credo

that pharmacy was an

independent entity from
medicine and "the first

step in the hierarchy

of the health profes¬
sions", a calling requir¬
ing much study, obser¬
vation and experimen¬
tation. Right, a present-
day apothecary of Fai-
zabad (Afghanistan) in
his shop.
 ARABIC PHARMACY (Continued)

But al-Biruni who had never been to from Sufalah, the present-day Sangla cooked for food as any other edible
Egypt, to which the skink lizard Is Hill in Pakistan. This shows how the mushroom. But when it dries, the top
indigenous, describes what he has horizon of the Arabic materia medica scatters away leaving what looks like
been told by the earlier masters, and, was widening to embrace new drugs the Ceylon cornet tree which gives
after describing this, he comes to the from the Indo-Paklstan Subcontinent, the mushroom its name ... It shoots

ecology of the skink lizard, how it is Iran, Afghanistan, and other regions. out of the ground In a rectangular
obtained, its medicinal usages,, and It amply shows, too, that what he was shape, like a white stick with a top . . ."
substitutes. writing was not merely a piece of
Maimonides, the famous Jewish
compilation but bears the stamp of an
There are also priceless gems of philosopher and rabbi, wrote his
original mind.
information scattered throughout the Exegesis of Drugs much later than
text of the Kitab al-Saydanah. Al- Let us give a concrete example of al-Biruni. He holds Usan al-kalb (the
Biruni's is among the first detailed his approach. The winter truffle is hound's tongue) to be lisan al-hamal
descriptions of tea, telling us that tea known in Arabic as urjun qabal, and (Plantago major), belonging to the
was taxed in China (see Anthology faswat al-dab. While describing this Plantaginaceae family. Al-Biruni, on
page 22). His is the first description the other hand, holds It to be a
variety of the mushroom, al-Blruni says:
of the plant, faghirah (Zanthoxyllum Cynoglossum species, and he is
species) which he describes as coming "When tender, fresh, and lush, It is correct, for the name given by him is

34
 a direct translation of the Greek word.
Although he did not know Latin for
he always equates Rome with the
Byzantine Empire and Greek, al-
Biruni's transcription of Greek names
is generally scrupulously correct.

Al-Biruni's book of pharmacy offers

a view of several new tendencies which
were crystallizing during the 10th-
11th century Muslim world:

The vague notion of the binomial

notation which is at the very heart of
the Linnaean system. For example, in
the Linnaean notation a species is
described by means of its genus and
its specific characteristic, after the
name of the discoverer, or its location,
e.g., Rosa damascena (that is, the
damask rose of Damascus). In a
similar manner, al-Biruni describes the
maiden-hair fern as sh'ar al-juyad (the
hair of the giant). The description of
sh'ar al-juyad is followed by that of
sha'ar al-ghul, also a fern and known
as Onychlum japonicum in botanical
parlance. This tendency is rather
vague in al-Blruni, but he resorts to it
wherever possible.

The ethnography of plants. AI

Biruni describes different plants and
their occurrence In relation, wherever
possible, to the folklore associated
with them. When he calls a certain
*\j/$r*',l*r
drug Roman or Persian, he does not
mean that the drug is only In use In
those countries but that It has

originated there.

Drug substitution. In this field

c
al-Biruni has been very liberal In
providing the names of substitute
drugs in case the drug described Is
not available. He had little leeway,
however, for originality here since the
workings and active principles of drugs
as we understand them today were
not known in his day, and even the
application of some rule of thumb
would not have been possible.

A critical appraisal of al-Biruni's

materia medica would also demand an
examination of the shortcomings of the
treatise. Al-Biruni rarely describes
the Galenic properties of drugs and
even when he discusses poly-pharma¬
ceuticals he hardly ever describes how
The illustrations on these pages are taken from a 15th century Persian manuscript they are prepared.
of a work by the Greek physician Dioscorides (1st century A.D.) on the healing
qualities of plants. The Persian text of this bilingual (Arabic-Persian) manuscript Most of such descriptions are copied
is richly illustrated with drawings of animals and plants, rendered with a grace and from earlier texts. Sometimes he

in colours typical of Persian art, though sometimes scientific accuracy gives way simply indulges in etymological exer¬
to poetic fancy. Above stylized drawings of two medicinal plants: the bitter-sweet cises as In his descriptions of the
nightshade (top) a climbing plant with red berries; the highly poisonous henbane excreta of different animals. For
(below). Its analgesic qualities were well known to al-Biruni, who wrote: "It is an example, an Interesting account of the
emollient for earaches and, with vinegar and rose oil, relieves toothache. Similarly,
dolphin is given but not its medicinal
its seeds and root, cooked in vinegar or oil, act as analgesics for the pains descri¬
relevance. At times he is so irrelevant
bed above. ..Excessive eating of its leaves results in the loss of senses..." According
to Avicenna, "those who eat henbane begin to bray like a donkey and whinny like
that he makes one laugh. To quote
ahorse." Left, from the same 15th century Persian manuscript, a treatment for one such example, he says that the
cow-buffaloes suffering from a skin disease: to purify the air, incense is burned in excrement of the dog is ironically
a perforated vessel. called dawa-l-kabir (i.e. panacea) in
Persian!

Photos Roland and Sabrina Michaud, Topkapl Museum library. Istanbul, Turkey All the same, al-Blruni's materia
medica provides us with a picture of
the expanding materia medica of the
time; of the Muslim approach In general
to science; how the Muslim Weltan-

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE

ARABIC PHARMACY (Continued)

schauung was embracing an enlarging
world-picture supported by a Greek
base which was being gradually dug
out and replaced by a new one; and
as a bridgehead to modern science.
Perhaps the finest materia medica
of all times, ¡ami Mufradat al-Adwiyah
wa'l Aghdhiyah (A Definitive Treatise
on Medicinal and Nutritional Simples)
was written two hundred years after
al-Biruni's death by Diya al-Din Ibn
Baytar Mulaghi, one of the Hispano-
Arabs, who quotes al-Biruni as one of
his sources while elucidating the occur¬
rence and properties of the drugs.
Since al-Biruni wrote
dictated the book during the ebb-time
of his life, identical drugs are described
in different parts of the work. Also,
while citing authorities, he does not
generally specify the works from which
the passages are taken. He seems to
have been a man of strong dislikes:
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) is not mentioned
at alll He also holds Abu Bakr Zaka-
riya al-Razi generally conceded to be
one of the greatest clinicians of all
times in scant respect, although he
draws upon him with recurring fre¬
quency. Succeeding generations have
noted this fact, and
historian, Ibn abi 'Usaybi'ah, the Syrian
chronicler, has particularly written on
this aspect of al-Biruni.
on astronomy), the Kitab al-Hind (his Syriac Christian, Yashaq Samahi or
book on India), and Athar al-Baqiyah Chahar Nam (Four Names); of a man
(The Chronology of Ancient Nations) is determined to leave not a, single
that of a man writing at breakneck moment of his life go to waste.
speed to communicate his own learning
to his contemporaries and posterity, It should also be noted, that his age
was one of' disquisitions, argumen¬
a fantastically industrious being, rather
vain, egotistical, but self-effacing, ever tation, and internecine quarrels not
only between orthodoxy and hetero¬
keen to gain more and more know¬
doxy but between the four orthodox
ledge, ready to scrutinize the different
Muslim schools of jurisprudence. Al-
hypotheses without bias and arrive at
Biruni seems to have been a liberal
his own opinion; of a man eager to orthodox Muslim who did not find it
forswear narrow interests (he discards
necessary to condemn the other
Persian and accepts Arabic), not prone
schools of thought. A greater exponent
to glossing over the foibles of his own of live-and-let-live is rare to find. This
people he makes a devastating attack alone should be sufficient to place him
or rather
on Dayfi Nam (Ten Names), the Persian among the ranks of the really great.
source book for medicinal synonyms
and holds it to be far inferior to the Hakim Mohammed Said
one famous

On the other hand, al-Biruni held the

Greeks in the highest respect, although
his acquaintance was greater with the
Jatter-day masters. He mentions the
philosopher Theophrastus only oc¬
casionally and Aristotle mostly when
referring to the pseudo-Aristotelian
treatise on the magical and talismanic
properties of certain stones. Galen is
mentioned comparatively less frequent¬
ly, as he was more a physician than
an exponent of the materia medica.
Occasionally al-Blruni commits real,
howlers: thus ambrosia (ambrosiya) Is
held to be a plant)

But, as I have stated earlier, al-

Biruni was not a physician; at best he
could be called a dilettante in so far
as medicine was concerned. And yet,
when he describes the mandrake plant,
the marking nut, balsam, the poppy,
the Iris, the aloes, he writes with the
ease of a master. Very rarely in a
book of materia medica have minerals
been described in such delightful
detail, and here he is at both his worst
and best. For he does his best to
extricate himself from the prison of
traditionalism and one can well see
that he goes more to the Greek sources
here than to the oriental ones, tradition-
fraught as the latter were.
Among the animal drugs, his des¬
criptions of the civef cat and the
beaver are among the best. One also
gets the impression that, even while
traversing the beaten path, al-Biruni
would like to ferret out something new,
something not known to the ordinary
man in the street. ;

Thus the impression that this book

leaves, along with his other pieces like
the Qanun al-Mas'udi (his great work
 Photo O Roland and Sabrina Michaud,
Topkapi Museum library, Istanbul, Turkey

MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN. "Two forms appear,

if it is cloven in the middle, and these are the male and
female human shapes." This is part of a long descrip¬
tion which al-Biruni gives of the mandrake root in his
treatise on pharmacy. Photo left, a striking example of
this strange root which might be taken for the statue
of a man, his hands clasped. The soporofic properties
of the mandrake have been known since ancient times.
It "brings about sleep after three to four hours",
observes al-Biruni. Above, Muslim doctors examining a
mandrake. Dioscorides, surgeon to Nero, used the man¬
drake as an anaesthetic in the 1st century A.D. The
Persian translation of his treatise contains an illustration
of the leaves and flowers of the plant (opposite page)
which corresponds exactly with the description that "the
flower resembles an actor's mask with a tongue protrud¬
ing from the open mouth". In the Middle Ages, the
mandrake was the subject of countless legends: it
was supposed to grow under the gallows, to shriek
when uprooted, and to be effective for all manner of
beneficent or evil purposes. A lively and profitable
trade in imitation mandrake roots flourished for cen¬
turies, with any sort of root carved in a human shape
being passed off as a mandrake. In fact the mandrake
is a close relative to the inoffensive and humble potato.

Photo © Gerard Dufresne, from the collection of Roger Caillots, Paris

 FREE-WHEELING
PHILOSOPHER
Al-Biruni was a model of the thinker

who could harmonize various forms

of knowledge without becoming

the slave to a particular method or school

It was a custom of Islamic

culture that thinkers and phi¬
losophers delivered their dis¬
courses leaning against a
pillar or a column of a mos¬
que, surrounded by disciples
and students, as shown In this
illustration from an ancient
manuscript

Photo Bibliothèque Nationale,

Pans, from "La Civilisation de
l'Islam Classique", by D. and
J. Sourdel (Ed. Arthaud, Paris)

by Seyyed Therefore the title of "philosopher" history and also for the innate value
(al-faylasuf) is usually reserved for of his Intellectual vision.
Hossein Nasr
those who are masters of the doctrines Al-Biruni was a scientist, scholar,
of one of these "philosophical" compiler and philosopher for whom
schools. Considered in this light al- the quest for knowledge was held as
Biruni has never been classified by the supreme goal of human life. He
classical authors as a "philosopher", respected knowledge in all its forms
nor associated with one of the well-
and hence sought It wherever and In
I N classical Islamic civiliza¬
known schools of traditional Islamic
whatever form possible. He saw In
philosophy. knowledge an almost divine quality
tion the name "philosophy" (al-falsafah
or al-hikmah) is reserved for a particu¬ But If we understand philosophy in very much in conformity with the fun¬
damental tenets of Islam.
lar set of disciplines associated with its more general sense as logical and
various schools of "Islamic philoso¬ rational discourse upon the nature of Hence, al-Blrunl, with the universal

38 phy". things, then al-Blruni must certainly be

considered as a philosopher of note to
vision and the remarkable intellectual

qualities which he possessed, turned to

be studied for his significance In the Greek as well as to Persian and Indian
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR. See biographical
note, page 27. general context of Islamic Intellectual sciences, to both the religious Islamic
sciences and the Intellectual ones. He (mashsha'i) (1), the Illuminationist (ish- ing the inviolability of the doctrine of
holds the rather unusual distinction of raqi) (2), and also that of theology unity that he criticized the Peripatetic

being at once one of the greatest ma¬ (kalam). view of the eternity of the world In the
thematicians and historians of hu¬ second of the questions he posed to
The most noteworthy aspect of al-
Avicenna.
manity. And he wrote in nearly every Biruni's philosophical views is his
field, from astronomy to pharmacology. The debate between al-Biruni and
strong and often original criticism of
Avicenna as well as al-Ma'sumi on this
Aristotelian philosophy, which is re¬
But strangely enough, unlike his con¬
flected in the questions and answers subject concerns one of the most
temporary scientist Ibn al-Haytham, al-
he exchanged with Avicenna and his important questions of Islamic philoso¬
Biruni has not left behind independent
student Abdallah al-Ma'sumi. phy, namely the condition under which
philosophical works of a systematic
something needs a cause. Al-Biruni
nature. The only exception among his Al-Biruni thus belongs to a series
identified the idea of the eternity of the
extant works is the Questions and of independent anti-Peripatetic thinkers
world with its not being created. For
Answers exchanged with Avicenna (Ibn of the early period of Islamic history
him, in contrast to Avicenna, the "new¬
Sina), which deal with cosmological, who were also scientists, such men as
ness" of the universe implied its being
physical and philosophical problems Mohammed Ibn Zakariyya'al - Razi,
created and the denial of this "new¬
whom al-Biruni both admired and cri¬
(see article page 27).
ticized.
ness", or an acceptance that the world
As for his lost works, he apparently does not have an origin in time, des¬
Al-Biruni did not oppose all of the
wrote several philosophical narratives, troyed the conception of creation and
teachings of Peripatetic philosophy en
including Qasim al-surur wa ayn al ultimately the unity of the Creator and
bloc. Rather, basing himself on firm
haya and Ur-muzdvar wa Mihryar his power. Hence In other works such
religious faith in Islam on the one hand as The Determination of the Co-ordi¬
which if found would be very signifi¬
and the tool of logic, rational analysis nates of Cities he affirmed his belief
cant, considering the importance of
and observation on the other, he refut¬
this kind of philosophical narrative in the created nature of the world and
ed many of the theses of Peripatetic
romance in the writings of Avicenna, tried to provide both scientific and
philosophy, such as the eternity of the
Suhrawardi and many other Islamic theological reasons for it.
world and the possibility of indefinite
philosophers. As a result of his vast and varied
division of matter.
study of nature, history and various
What is important for an understand¬
traditional doctrines of time and of the

IIN order to understand al-

ing of Islamic intellectual history is
that such a strong and rigorous criti¬
world, al-Biruni became clearly aware
of the qualitative nature of time, of the
Biruni's philosophical thought, it is cism of Peripatetic thought did not
fact that it is not uniformly stretched
therefore necessary to turn to his other come from a rationalist, as was to
out like a mathematical co-ordinate. He
writings dealing with history, geography happen from the end of the Middle
also strongly denied the idea of uni-
or even astronomy, for in nearly all of Ages to the 17th century in the West,
formitarianism so dear to modern geo¬
these works, one will find elements but that it came from a man like al-Bi¬
logy and paleontology and provided
dealing with philosophy, cosmology runi who was deeply immersed in both
both scientific and philosophical argu¬
and metaphysics interspersed within the life of faith and metaphysical and
ments to disprove it.
the main scientific or historical discus¬ cosmological doctrines of Islam and
sion at hand. other traditions.

In his encyclopaedic work, India, not It is of great significance for an

understanding of the reason for the
only does al-Biruni describe Indian B^ OR al-Biruni time has a
doctrines, but often comments upon different paths that Islamic and Chris¬ cyclic nature, but not in the sense of
tian civilization were to take at the end
them and offers his own metaphysical returning to the same point again,
and philosophical Ideas and interpre¬ of the Middle Ages that one of the which is a metaphysical absurdity and
foremost critics of the Aristotelian
tations. In his Chronology of Ancient a modern caricature of the real tradi¬
world view in Islam should also be the
Nations profound observations are tional teachings. Rather, by " cyclic "
made about the nature of time and person who introduced the Patanjali al-Biruni understands qualitative chan¬
the cycles of human history as well Yoga to the Islamic world and one of ges and correspondences between
as the origin of the order observed the Muslim figures really well-versed various elements of time within each
In nature. In The Determination of the In the Hindu Vedanta philosophy. cycle.
Co-ordinates of Cities, the origin of In questions of cosmogony and Without doubt his profound study
science and its classification are dis¬ creation, al-Biruni rejected violently the and intimate knowledge not only of the
cussed as are themes related to the Idea of the "eternity" of the world. Koranic conception of time, which is
question of the origin and creation Like the Islamic theologians, he held based on cycles of prophecy, but also
of the universe. that to believe in the eternity of the of the teachings of the Puranas, the
world is to negate the need for a 18 Hindu epics, and of many other
One could go on In the same vein
cause for the world and therefore to
with his other writings. Moreover, the traditions on the meaning of time and
negate indirectly Divine Unity, which history, helped al-Biruni develop per¬
very fact that he chose to translate
was the principle most dear to him.
into Arabic a work on Indian yoga such haps more profoundly than any other
In fact the whole of al-Biruni's works Islamic philosopher and scientist the
as the Patanjali Yoga shows his intense
can be interpreted as a quest for the meaning of qualified and cyclic time
interest in metaphysical and spiritual
matters. realization of unity in various forms of and Its implications for the study of
knowledge and planes of existence. It nature and of man.
When all of these sources are ex¬ was most of all with the aim of preserv- A basic aspect of al-Biruni's thought,
tracted and studied it becomes clear
which is closely related to his
that al-Biruni was neither a follower,
(1) Muslim school of philosophy influenced treatment of time, concerns the dev¬
nor a member of any of the established by the philosophy of Aristotle.
(2) A philosophy with origins in Ancient
elopment and becoming of things, OQ
philosophical schools of his time.
Persia, postulating inward spiritual enlighten¬ which many have by mistake identified ***»
ment and mystical experience, and contrast¬
The well known schools of "Islamic with the modern theory of evolution,
ing with the philosophy of Aristotle based
philosophy" included the Peripatetic on reasoning and logical argument. the latter being no more than a parody
CONTINUED NEXT PAGE
 Photo H.W. Silvester © Rapho, Paris

FREE-WHEELING PHILOSOPHER (Continued)

of the traditional doctrine of grad¬ fested at a particular period of history cal ideas is his view of knowledge and
ation (3). is no more than the unfolding of possi¬ the methods used for Its attainment.

Al-Blruni was fully aware of the long bilities inherent 'in that particular cycle Al-Biruni held a view of knowledge
of time. which was at once dynamic and static,
history of the earth, of the cataclysms
which changed mountains Into seas This principle, which is one of the that Is, he believed clearly in the
and oceans into continents, of the cornerstones of al-Biruni's thought and gradual development of particular
fact that certain species preceded is a crystallization of well-known tradi¬ forms of knowledge and at the same
others on earth and that each species tional doctrines, is applied by al-Blruni time in the immutability of principial
has its own life cycle. to his study of various domains of knowledge derived from revelation.

Pondering over the vast panorama nature, both animate and inanimate, as
In addition to being the founder of
of nature In both time and space and well as to history and man. the discipline of comparative religion
the teachings of various sacred writ¬ Being an outstanding physicist, al- or the history of religion he must also
ings on the creation and subsequent Biruni was deeply interested in the be considered as one of the founders

history of the Universe, al-Biruni general principles of natural philoso¬ of the history of science. Yet, he
became aware of the basic principle phy, in such questions as motion, time never lost sight of immutable know¬
that the development and becoming of and matter, as is again seen in his ledge, which for him is always the
things in this world is the gradual criticism of Aristotelian natural philoso¬ revealed Scriptures and which provides
unfolding and actualization of all the phy presented in the series of ques¬ the matrix for all the human sciences

possibilities that are inherent within tions and answers exchanged with Avi¬ which change and develop.
each being. cenna.
Moreover, al-Biruni was the great
Nothing evolves from one form into As far as the nature of matter is
champion of pure knowledge and its
another as a result of external addi¬ concerned, he sided with the Islamic
value for the perfection of man. In
tions or accretions; rather whatever theologians.
Islam there has never been the idea
transformation does take place is no It is somewhat strange that a scien¬ of "science for science's sake" as is
more than the manifestations of pos¬ tist such as al-Biruni should support found in the West. But within the
sibilities already present in that being. the view of the theologians concerning context of Islamic civilization al-Biruni
In the same way, what becomes mani- the structure of matter, for usually the emphasized the importance of pure
40 Muslim scientists believed in the conti¬
knowledge and the pursuit of know¬
(3) The principle that the universe is com¬ nuity of matter. ledge for the sake of the perfection
posed of an infinite series of forms ranging
Of paramount importance for an of man as against those who stressed
in order from the barest type of existence
to ultimate perfection. understanding of al-Biruni's philosophi- the importance of its utility.
THE FIRST

MUSLIM

TO MAKE

A DEEP STUDY

OF HINDU
PHILOSOPHY

Left, 14th century Persian manuscript illus¬

tration shows Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna
crossing the Ganges, the sacred river to which
Indians go on pilgrimage (above), to pray
and meditate on its banks (opposite page).
Al-Biruni studied India at first hand during
his journeys in that country with Sultan
Mahmud. This permitted him to write his
monumental book on India. The breadth of

vision and depth of understanding he revealed

in this work were unprecedented in the
Muslim world of his day. It remains a model
of exact observation and objective analysis.
As George Sarton writes in his "Introduction
to the History of Science" "He was the first
Muslim to make a deep study of Hindu philo¬
sophy and became the most important link
between two great provinces of mankind,
India and Islam."

Photo Edinburgh University library, U.K.

Of course, inasmuch as al-Biruni without ever being fooled into believing which it belonged by nature, so that
spoke within the context of the tradi¬ that the methods of experimental he could practise mathematics with
tional world view, his defence of pure science could he applied to the domain the rigour of the greatest of mathema¬
of religion or the sciences of man. That ticians and at the same time write of
knowledge and the view of those who
human affairs with a vision that is
emphasized its utility met at the is why In al-Biruni, who in a sense
highest level. For what can be more summarizes the whole history of Isla¬ much more profound than the view
mic science, there is no single method, of those in the modern world who try
"useful" to man than the knowledge
which is an adornment for his soul but methods for acquiring various to ape the methods of the exact scien¬
and the means for Its attainment of forms of knowledge in conformity with ces in the field of the humanities and

perfection? the innate nature of the sciences in who do not possess a fraction of
question. al-Biruni's scientific knowledge.
Al-Biruni himself was aware of these
Al-Biruni stands as the model of the
two poles and attitudes involved and The basic significance of al-Blruni
thinker who was able to harmonize
in his own writings combined the for the modern world, and especially
within his own intellectual vision
pleasure aspect associated with the the contemporary Islamic world, in fact,
attainment of knowledge with its aspect is not only in that he was the father various forms of knowledge, from the
of utility. For him the two were not of geodesy or that he weighed several sciences of nature to religion and phi¬
completely divorced from each other precious stones and metals carefully losophy.
but were complementary in the deep¬ or even that he criticized Aristotelian He also stands as proof that it is
est sense. natural philosophy profoundly. It is possible within a traditional world-
Al-Blruni never became the slave of above all in his success in being an view to develop and even found
a particular method nor accepted that outstanding scientist, in being scienti¬ various branches of the sciences

kind of tyranny of methodology charac¬ fic without being scientlstic. It is in without becoming enslaved by them
teristic of so much of modern science. being logical without losing sight of the and without falling under the deadly
He used different methods in different spiritual empyrean, the knowledge of influence of belief in the unilateral and

sciences in conformity with the nature which is not irrational nor illogical but tyrannizing power of science so preva¬
of the science in question. Where it unattainable through logic and reason lent today, a belief whose end cannot
alone. but be the stifling of the human spirit
was necessary he used induction, or
and the destruction of the natural envi¬
observation, or experimentation,
deduction or had recourse to intellec¬
or It is also in his remarkable sense of
ronment which itself serves as support
41
discernment which was able to give
tual Intuition. for man's terrestrial journey.
each form of knowledge its due, to
He was the most exact of scientists assign to each element the place to Seyyed Hossein Nasr
 THE FORTRESS
OF NANDANA

In the Fortress of Nandana,

left, al-Biruni computed the
radius and circumference of
the earth in the year 1018.
The fortress stands in hilly
country about 100 kilometres
from Islamabad, capital of
modern Pakistan. Al-Biruni
explained his method In the
Mas'udic Canon. First he

calculated the height of a

neighbouring peak, possibly
the one seen here behind
the fortress, then he
measured the angle from
the summit to the earth's
horizon. His results were
amazingly accurate. H e
made the earth's radius

6,338.80 kilometres, com¬

pared with today's mean
figure of 6,370.98 kilometres
or 6,353.41 kilometres at the
latitude of Nandana, a dif¬
ference of barely 15 km.

Pioneer of scientific observation (continue* »om page w

He wrote of the great geological struction of a canal linking the Medi¬ Al-Biruni's profound study of the
changes which had occurred in the terranean and the Red Sea, to the Hindu religion enabled him to under¬
remote past, long before the creation desalination of sea water and even to take a comparative study of the major
of man, and also during human exis¬ the atomistic theories of Democritus religions of his day, examining for the
tence, and some of his observations Furthermore, and it is in this respect first time the ties which bind the Greek,
are of great Interest. His discovery of that he really emerges as a precursor Christian, Manichean, Jewish and Hindu
fossils of marine animals led him to of the great geniuses of the Renais¬ faiths. He particularly stressed the
the conclusion that: sance and the Enlightenment, he also Hindu belief in the transmigration of
turned his attention to the human souls.
"Sea has turned into land and land
sciences, in which his achievement is His work on India is not, however,
into sea; which changes, if they happen
quite extraordinary for someone living concerned solely with religion, but also
before the existence of man, are not
in an age which was certainly not contains chapters of the greatest value
known, and if they took place later they noted for its tolerance.
are not remembered because with the on the Hindu social system and Indian
u
By virtue. of his official post at the geography, mathematics and medicine. z
length of time the record of events <

breaks, especially if this happens court of Sultan Mahmud, al-Biruni was It is greatly to his credit that, unlike
required to take part in the Sultan's so many of his contemporaries, he saw
gradually. This only a few can realize.
campaigns. This did not prevent him India as something more than merely
"This steppe of Arabia was at one realizing his greatest wish, which was a place where rich booty was to be
time sea, then was upturned so that to make contact with Indian thought. had. His work is thus an objective
the traces are still visible when wells
The long periods which he spent in and complete record of Hindu civi¬
or ponds are dug, for they begin with India left an indelible impression upon lization and a source-book for his
layers of dust, sand and pebbles, then him, resulting in some of his most fellow-Muslims who had until then been
there are found in the soii shells, glass remarkable works, in particular his ignorant of Hindu culture.
and bones which cannot possibly be
great work on India. Al-Biruni's work thus presents us
said to have been buried there on
He went to India in the train of a with an outstanding example of an
purpose. Nay, even stones are
military conqueror, but it was in the encyclopaedic mind ranging over both
brought up In which are embedded the exact sciences and the human
shells, cowries and what Is called guise of a simple student that he
introduced himself to his Indian sciences, and a model of respect for
'fish-ears', sometimes well-preserved,
masters. He learned Sanskrit in order other people's manners, beliefs and
or the hollows are there of their shape
to study Indian sacred writings and customs in short, for other people's o
while the animal has decayed." cultures. He teaches us tolerance
scientific texts. He was soon to be I
His interest next turned to the deter¬ through understanding of other nations,
regarded as the equal of his masters,
mination of specific gravities, to vacuum both for his learning and for his and for this reason we respect al-Biruni
theory, the propagation of heat, the desire to spread the knowledge he as he respected others. As he him¬
dilatation of bodies and the reflection self said:
possessed. His erstwhile teachers z
<
and refraction of light. He even thus became his pupils and he taught "If you are to learn to like other
attempted to establish a tentative them the elements of Islamic, Mani- peoples, learn their language and show
42 comparison between the speeds of
light and sound.
chean, Christian, Mazdaist and Hebrew respect for their way of life for
o
oí
o
thought with such success that they their customs, their thought and their UJ

In a totally different field, we find gave him the affectionate sobriquet religion."
references in his works to the con "Boundless Ocean". Mohammed Salim-Atchekzal
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.i

#* **
íátfSfe*-

Ancient splendours of Ghazna

Ghazna (in present-day Afghanistan) was one of Asia's
most splendid cities in the 10th century. It was the
a*1 capital and cradle of the Ghaznavid dynasty which ruled
from the frontiers of Mesopotamia to the Ganges river.
.V-V" Al-Biruni, the great Muslim scientist and philosopher,
lived at Ghazna most of the time from 1017 until his
' death about 1048 A.D. Here he wrote some of his most
famous works, including his encyclopaedic study on
India. The Mongol invasion of 1221 destroyed most of
Ghazna, sparing only two minarets and a palace, today
in ruins. This star-shaped tower of burnt brick, 43 metres
' '^
high and decorated with Arabic inscriptions, is the base
of one of the minarets; it was once topped by a cylindrical
upper tower (see also page 18).

Photo © Dominique Lacarrière, Paris