Abū al‐Ṣalt | |
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Born | c. 1068 Denia, al-Andalus |
Died | 23 October 1134 Bejaia, Algeria |
Residence | Al-Andalus, Tunisia, Egypt, Palermo |
Academic work | |
Era | Islamic Golden Age |
Main interests | Quadrivium, Astronomy, Music |
Influenced | Samuel of Marseilles, Profiat Duran |
Abū al‐Ṣalt, Umayya ibn ʿAbd al‐ʿAzīz ibn Abī al‐Ṣalt al‐Dānī al‐Andalusī (c. 1068 – 23 October 1134) was an Andalusian polymath whose works on astronomical instruments were read both in the Islamic world and Europe. He also worked as a physician, a teacher of alchemy, and wrote treatises on medicine, philosophy, music, and history. He became well known in Europe through translations of his works made in the Iberian Peninsula and in southern France. He is also credited with introducing Andalusian music to Tunis, which later led to the development of the Tunisian ma'luf.
Abu al-Salt was born in Denia, al-Andalus. After the death of his father while he was a child, he became a student of al‐Waqqashi (1017–1095) of Toledo (a colleague of Al-Zarqali). Upon completing his mathematical education in Seville, and because of the continuing conflicts during the reconquista, he set out with his family to Alexandria and then Cairo in 1096.
In Cairo, he entered the service of the Fatimid ruler Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh and the Vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah. His service continued until 1108, when, according to Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa, his attempt to retrieve a very large Felucca laden with copper, that had capsized in the Nile River, ended in failure. Abu al-Salt had built a mechanical tool to retrieve the Felucca, and was close to success when the machine's silk ropes fractured. The Vizier Al-Afdal ordered Abu al-Salt's arrest, and he was imprisoned for more than three years, only to be released in 1112.