Abu al-Wafa' al-Mubashshir ibn Fatik (Arabic: ابو الوافاء المبشّر بن فاتك Abū al-Wafā’
Al-Mubaššir ibn Fātik) was a scholar well versed in the mathematical
sciences and also wrote on logic and medicine.
He was born
in Damascus but lived mainly in Egypt during the 11th
century Fatimid Caliphate. He also wrote an historical chronicle of
the reign of al-Mustansir Billah.
However, the book he is
famed for and the only one extant, Kitāb mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin
al-kalim (مختار
الحكم ومحاسن الكلم), the "Selected Maxims and Aphorisms", is a
collection of sayings attributed to the ancient sages (mainly Greeks)
translated into Arabic. The date of composition given by the author is
1048–1049.
Socrates and two disciples from
an illuminated manuscript of Mukhtar
al-ḥikam by Al-Mubaššir ibn Fatik
Biography
The biographical
details we have come from Ibn Abi Usaibia's Uyūn ul-Anbāʾ fī
Ṭabaqāt ul-Aṭibbāʾ (عيون
الأنباء في طبقات الأطباء, "the History of Physicians"). According to Usaibia,
Ibn Fatik was from a noble family and held the position of "emir" at
the court of the Fatimids in the reign of al-Mustansir Billah. He was
a passionate bibliophile, acquired a great collection of books and enjoyed
the company of scholars, and above all, he devoted himself to study. He trained
in mathematics and astronomy under the philosopher, mathematician and
astronomer Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040). He also associated with Ibn
al-Amidi and the physician, astrologer, and astronomer Ali ibn
Ridwan (988–1061). When he died, many heads of state attended his funeral.
According to this biography, such was his wife's disaffection through want of
attention, she threw most of his books into the pool at the center of the
house, and so they were lost by drowning.
Works
Kitāb mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim (مختار الحكم ومحاسن
الكلم), the “Book of Selected Maxims and Aphorisms”, can be described
as a collection of biographies of twenty-one "sages", mainly Greeks
(e.g. Seth, (Zedekiah), Hermes, Homer, Solon, Pythagoras, Hippocrates,
Diogenes, Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Alexander the Great), accompanied by the
maxims and sayings attributed to them. The biographies are largely legendary
and most attributions highly dubious.
Influences
His al-Mukhtar was
a great success in the centuries that followed, first in the Arab-Muslim world
where it provided source material for later scholars, such as for
Muhammad al-Shahrastani in his book Kitab al-wa-l-Milal Nihal and
Shams al-Din al-Shahrazuri for his Nuzhat al-Arwah.
Sumber
Labels:
Mathematician
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