INTRODUCTION
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| Al-Mayriti |
Âbû-l-QâsimMaslamaibnÂhmad al-Faradi
al-Hasib al-Qurtubî al-Maŷrîtî (أبوالقاسممسلمةبنأحمدالمجريطي), which demonym(al-Maŷrītī) means “el
madrileño” was anHispano-Arabic astronomer, mathematician, scholar and
polygraph, who was born in Madrid in the mid-tenth century and died between
1007 and 1008 in Córdoba. He was one of the first illustrious citizens of
Madrid.
He was one of the most renowned
intellectuals of the Caliphate and he became known as the Euclid of Spain. He was
a great astronomer,he summarized Al-Juwarizmi´s tables and translated Ptolemy’s
Planisphere. This
knowledge would later be transferred to the Christian kingdoms.
He was also Al-Mansur’s astrological
counsellor, indicating the appropriate times to begin his aceifas (militarycampaigns)
and it is said that he forecasted the end of the Caliphate and the details of what
and when was going to happen before it happened.
Historians have at times
misattributed works on magic and alchemyto Al-Mayriti.
The legend says that he had a
daughter, named Fatima from Madrid, but the existence of this figure hasn’t
been proved by historical sources.
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| Fátima, the supposed Al-Mayriti's son |
He formed a scientific school in Cordoba,
where scholars from all Al-Andalus flocked to attend his lessons. Some authors
say that Al-Mayriti is the most important figure of Cordoba´s Caliphate in the
scientific field and the father of the further expansion and development of
mathematics in al-Andalus.
The works of his astronomer and
mathematician disciples were very important in the Middle Ages. Among the
celebrities who were his direct disciples, we find: Abu BakrYahya B. Ahmad (Ibn
al-Jayyat) (980-?), Abu-l-kasimAsbagB.Muhammad al GarnatíIbn al-Samh
(980-1035), Abu Abd Allah Muhamed B. Safar al-Qurtubi (¿-1035), Abu-l-Hasan Ali
B. Sulayman al-Zahrawi, Abu Muslim Omar B. Ahmad B. Jaldun al-Jadrami (¿-1057),
Al-Kirmani (¿-1.066), Abu Utman Said B. Muhammad al-Tulaytuli (Benalbagones).
Both, his work and those from his
disciples, enjoyed great fame and popularity throughout the Arab and Latin
world of his time and were also a crucial base for elementary spherical
astronomy projected on a plane.
AL-MAYRITI’S LIFE AND ACTIVITY
The words of IbnHazm, Cordovan
writer in his Al-AndalusApologetic Epistle, highlight
the importance of Maslama:
"... I have a lack of authority
and knowledge in relation to arithmetic and geometry and therefore I cannot
trust my knowledge to distinguish, among those who inhabit our country, which
are good or mediocre authors. However, I heard of a wise man whose intelligence
and good faith I trust and he is considered to be very competent in this area,
in terms of astronomical tables none equals those of Maslama and Ibn al-Samh and
both authors are our countrymen. "
While he was a young man he left
Madrid and moved to Córdoba, where he was a disciple of Abd al Gafir ibn Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Ibn Abi Isa. There he also got into contact with the Cordovan
scientists, who were the introducers of Hellenistic science in al-Andalus and
gave him access and translation to Greek texts, notably Ptolemy.
His fame became widespread in the
second half of the 10thcentury, during al-Hakam II and Hisham II’s
caliphates.
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| Statue of Al-Hakam II in Córdoba |
The information provided by QadiSa'id
of Toledo (1029-1070, author of a truly universal history of science) in his Tabaqat, on Maslama´s disciples is basic
to learn about the Andalusian school of astronomers and mathematicians, who cultivated
arithmetic and geometry, as well as astronomy.
According to Professor Julio Samsó,
Maslama was interested in the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter that took place
in the year 1006/1007 and involved a change of triplicity, since it began in
Leo (fire sign) and continued in Virgo (Earth sign ) and because of this
conjunction. In the same way, according to other astrological interpretations
of illustrious contemporary astrologists, Maslama predicted a change of dynasty,
ruin, slaughter and starvation, but did not live long enough to see his
prediction, as he died in 1007.
His main scientific
achievements were:
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| An astrolabe |
-A brief astrolabe treatise, which
has long been confused with the one written by Ibn al-Saffar, where technical
construction and use of this instrument is described.
-The adaptation of the Eastern astronomical
tables of al-Khwarizmi and Battani to Cordoba´s
meridian, reducing the years to Arab years
and determining the average positions of the planets for the first day
of the Hijra (Hegira). The Persian years were about 365 days.
-As a professional astrologer,
Maslama was also interested in the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, which took
place in 1006/1007; with it he foretold a change of dynasty, ruin, slaughter,
and famine.
-The performance of a commercial
arithmetic manual for popular use.
-He observed the star Regulus in the
year 979 and found its ecliptical longitude to be 135° 40'. Starting from the
determination of the longitude of this star, Maslama was then able to determine
the longitude for all fixed stars.
MASLAMA SCIENTIFIC LEGACY
Some of his works are:
-Al
Mu'amalat, commercial arithmetic book that was about sales, cadastre, tax,
etc. Geometric, arithmetic and algebraic procedures are used interchangeably in
it.
-One of the works often attributed to
Maslama is The Rank of the Sage, composed
after 1009; it is alchemical in nature, and gives formulas and instructions for
the purification of precious metals and describes the preparation of mercuric
oxide on a quantitative basis.
-Al-Qatta Shakl,
the notes to the theorem of Menelaus, where he addresses solutions to the
problem of passage between celestial coordinates, equatorial coordinates and
vertical coordinates, using spherical trigonometry
- Also attributed to Maslama are
various opuscules which are in fact extracts, including passages on zoology and
alchemy, from the Rasā’il of the Ikhwān al-Safā’, or have a certain
relationship with these Rasā’ (like the Risālat al jāmī’a).
SOURCES:
Pilar Quirós Iniesta
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