Ahmad at-Tifashi

Ahmad at-Tifaschi ( Arabic أحمد التيفاشي, DMG Aḥmad at-Tīfāšī , also Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Tīfāchī or al-Tifashi ; * 1184 in today's province of Souk Ahras ( Algeria ); † 1253 in Cairo ) was a famous Arab mineralogist , to whom we owe writings on sexual hygiene .

Live and act

Much of Ahmad at-Tifaschi's life lies in the dark of history. The only thing that is certain is that his temporary living quarters were in Tunis , Baghdad and above all in Cairo. And there he found his teacher, the famous doctor Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi , to whom he probably owed his extensive knowledge. His high level of cultural competence has also been handed down

At-Tifaschi's interests must be described as unusual, as on the one hand he had found a certain degree of validity as the author of several writings on sexuality, but on the other hand, as a mineralogist, he wrote a standard work that extends into modern times, including in the western hemisphere had great importance.

His two most famous works on sexuality, Kitāb Rudschūʿ al-Sheikh ilā Sabāh fī l-Quwwa ʿalā l-Bāh , translated into English by Charles Carrington in 1898 under the title The old man young again , is a guide that covers practically all aspects to be dealt with on sexuality. In his essay Nuzhat al-Albab Fima lā yūdschad fī kitāb (in English translation The Delight of hearts, or, What you will not find in any book ), he is dedicated to the poetry of eroticism, jokes, sexual practices to homoeroticism and Homosexuality , although he does not try to hide his aversion to these orientations.

At-Tifaschi received the greatest recognition, however, with his work Azhār al-afkār fī dschawāhir al-ahdschār (Book of Royal Stones), which has retained its reputation to the present day. Between 1977 and 2014 alone, the book was published 17 times in three languages ​​and can be found in the assortment of 159 WorldCat members worldwide. In this work, which he illustrated himself and completed in 1242, he describes stones and minerals with considerable precision in 25 chapters . He devoted five sub-chapters to each of his described objects, in which he summarized the knowledge of the time on this topic in tabular form, each on the origin, the place of discovery, the quality (real or fake), the magical-medicinal effect and the value and price. His sources came from information from merchants, jewelers and miners, but also from the corresponding writings of the Arab and Greek scientists living before him such as Aristotle , Apollonius of Tyana , al-Masʿūdī , al-Jazarī and al-Kindī . His contemporary Abu Muhammad ibn al-Baitar and later al-Qalqaschandī (1355-1418) praised at-Tifaschi as a great scholar.

swell

• J. Ruska, O. Kahl: Tifashi. In: HAR Gibbs, B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, C. Bosworth et al. (Eds.): The Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2nd Edition. Volume 10, EJ Brill, Leiden 2000, p. 476.
• Manfred Ullmann : Medicine in Islam, manual of oriental studies. EJ Brill, Leiden 1970, p. 196, Division I, Supplementary Volume vi, Section 1.
• Carl Brockelmann : History of Arabic Literature. Volume 1, Brill, Leiden 1937, p. 904.
• Garcia Sanchez: Tifashi, Shihab al-Din al-Tifashi. Lexicon of important natural scientists, Volume 3, Elsevier , p. 362, 2007 Munich, ISBN 978-3-8274-1883-8 .

proof

1. ^ The old man young again, or, Age-rejuvenescence in the power of concupiscence. Voyager Rare Books Maps & Prints, accessed March 29, 2020 . 
2. ↑ The Delight of Hearts: Or What You Will Not Find in Any Book. Goodreads, accessed March 29, 2020 . 
3. ↑ A. Schopen, KW Strauss: Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf at-Tīfāšīs "Book of royal stones": A mineral study for the Arab rulers of the 7th / 13th Century . Harrassowitz Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-447-10224-7 , JSTOR : j.ctvk12t9d .