Abū Zaid al-Balchī

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Abū Zaid al-Balchī ( Arabic أبو زيد أحمد بن سهل البلخي, DMG Abū Zaid Aḥmad b. Sahl al-Balḫī ; ( Persian ابو زید احمد بن سهل بلخی) often Abu Zayd al-Balkhi ; * 849 or 850 in Schamistiyan near Balch in Chorasan ; † October 31, 934 ) was a Persian Islamic polymath . He achieved particular fame in the disciplines of philosophy and Islamic scholarship. Nowadays he is known primarily as a geographer. He made a name for himself in particular in the exegesis of the Koran . His best-known work in this branch of science is the often cited but lost Naẓm al-Qurān . He has written more than 60 books in Arabic. Only the "relatively insignificant" medical treatise has survivedKitāb Maṣāliḥ al-Abdān wal-Anfus .

Life

Al-Balchi was born in Shamistiyan village around 849. He worked as a teacher like his father before. At a young age he confessed to Imamite Islam. He later turned to Orthodoxy. He joined a pilgrim caravan and traveled with her to Baghdad. There he studied under the famous philosopher al-Kindī . Other areas of study were Islamic scholarship, medicine, science and astronomy. He despised astrology. After completing his studies, he returned to the province of Balkh. An offer from the ruler of Balch, Ahmad ibn Sahl ibn Hashim al-Marwazi, to become Vezir, was rejected by al-Balchi. Instead, his friend Abū l-Qāsim al-Balchī was appointed vizier. For his part, Al-Balchi took up a position as secretary that earned him 500 dirhams a year. His friend Abū l-Qāsim al-Balchī gave him 100 dirhams from his own wages. Pearls worth 30,000 dirhams, which the ruler and Abū l-Qāsim al-Balchī gave him, enabled al-Balchi to buy an estate in his home village. It remained in the possession of his descendants until the destruction of Balch. al-Balchi received an invitation from the Samanid ruler to come to Bukhara to serve in his service. He set off, but turned when he saw the Oxus . He wrote to the prince that his intellect prevented him from crossing this river, when he had been called to Bukhara because of his intellect.

Al-Balchi was of medium stature. He is described as lean, pale, pockmarked, taciturn and serious

Create

Abu Zaid al-Balchi is considered to be the founder of the classical Arabic school of geography. His reputation as a geographer is based on a work that has not been preserved as such. It is known by different names: Ṣuwar al-Aqālīm ("Images of the Regions"), Taqwīm al-Buldān ("Calendar of Countries"), Ashkul al-Bilād ("Forms of Countries") and al-Maṣālik wa'l Mamālik ("Ways and Kingdoms"). After de Goeje's detailed investigation , al-Balchi merely created the basis of this work, which was then successively expanded by al-Istachri and Ibn Hauqal . Whole passages were rewritten and replaced. Al-Muqaddasi judged in his work Aḥsan al-Taqāsim fi maʿrifat al-Aqālīm ("the best subdivision in the science of the regions") the work as insufficient. The description is too short and incomplete. Muqaddasi wrote:

“As for Abu Zaid al-Balkhi, the main purpose of his work was to give cards. He divided the earth into twenty parts, and added a brief description to each map. But he left many important things unmentioned and he neglected many useful circumstances, even one will look in vain for several elegant cities with him "

- Translation de Goeje: The Istakhri-Balkhi question. ZDMG XXV, 1871, p. 56

In the foreword of his edition of the Hudud al-Alam , Barthold suspects that al-Balchi may have only added explanations to maps of Abu Jafar al-Khazin. What is certain is that the work that his reputation as a geographer is based on a work that al-Balchi wrote only a small part. There are contradicting reports about al-Balchi's travel activities. Al-Muqadassi writes in his biographical lexicon that al-Balchi did not travel. As-Safadi, on the other hand, reports on al-Balchi's scientific journeys.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ WM Watt in Iranica
  2. ↑ MJ de Goeje: The Istakhri-Balkhi question. ZDMG XXV. 1871, p. 55
  3. ↑ MJ de Goeje: The Istakhri-Balkhi Question (MJ de Goeje: The Istakhri-Balkhi Question. ZDMG XXV. 1871, p. 48)

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personal data
SURNAME Balchī, Abū Zaid al-
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balchi, Abu Zaid Ahmad ibn Sahl al- (full name); Balkhi, Abu Zayd al-; Naẓm al-Qurān; Kitāb Maṣāliḥ al-Abdān wal-Anfus; أبو زيد أحمد بن سهل البلخي (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Islamic polymath
DATE OF BIRTH 849 or 850
PLACE OF BIRTH Schamistiyan, Balkh , Khorasan
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 934