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Abu Ma'shar
787–886 · Persia / Baghdad
Description
Abu Ma‘shar al-Balkhi, Latinized as Albumasar, was an early Persian Muslim astrologer, thought to be the greatest astrologer of the Abbasid court in Baghdad. While he was not a major innovator, his practical manuals for training astrologers profoundly influenced Muslim intellectual history and, through translations, that of western Europe and Byzantium.
Facts
| Born | 10 August 787, Balkh, Khurasan |
| Died | 9 March 886 (aged 98), Wāsiṭ, Iraq, Abbasid Caliphate |
| Influences | Aristotle and Ptolemy |
| Era | Islamic Golden Age, (Abbasid era) |
| Main interests | Astrology, Astronomy |
| Influenced | Al-Sijzi, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, Pierre d'Ailly, Pico della Mirandola. |
Life & work in brief
Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.
| Work / contribution | Significance |
|---|---|
| Life | Abū Maʿshar was a native of Balkh, a town in the Balkh province of Afghanistan, approximately 74 kilometres (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya, one of the main bases of support of the Abbasid revolt in the early 8th century. |
| Works | His work Kitāb al-madkhal al-kabīr (English: The Great Introduction to the Science of Astrology) provides an introduction to astrology which received many translations to Latin and Greek starting from the 11th century. |