Al-Idrisi

From Mw

Al-Idrisi whose full name was Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi(Arabic :أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريس )

He was born in Ceuta Spain in 1099 CE (492 AH)

As all Muslim geographers, Al Idrisi traveled to many distant places, including Europe, to gather geographical data. Muslim geographers at that time had already made accurate measurements of the earth surface, also several maps of the world were available.

Al-Idrisi combined his own findings to the available knowledge at his time. He became famous for his comprehensive knowledge of all parts of the world, he also attracted the attention of European sea navigators and military planners more than other Muslim geographers because ships and navigators from north sea, Atlantic and the Mediterranean frequented Sicily, which is located about the middle of the Mediterranean.

Contents 1 Education 2 His Geography 3 References 4 His Works

[edit] Education

He received his education in Cordoba, then flourished at the Norman court in Palermo.

[edit] His Geography

He had extensive knowledge of Niger and the Sudan and of the head waters of the Nile. Al-Idrisi constructed a circular world map of pure silver that weighed approximately 400 kilograms and precisely recorded on it the seven continents with trade routes, lakes and rivers, major cities, and plains and mountains. Christopher Columbus used the map which was originally taken from Al-Idrisi's work.

[edit] References

saudiaramcoworld

[edit] His Works

• Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhat al-Nafs (Pleasure of men and delight of souls) also known as Kitab al- Mamalik wa al-Masalik
• Kitab al-Jami-li-Sifat Ashtat al-Nabatat on medicinal plants
• Al-Kitab al-Rujari

In his book Rawd-Unnas wa-Nuzhat al-Nafs Al-Idrisi records the account of 8 muslim sailors who travlled for ll days turned south west and then travelled for another 20 days before encountering an island, where they were captured, and only released when an arabic interpreter appeared. They then travelled another 3 days before hitting main land. It took 60 days for them to return. The map shows the two accounts of the journey. The red line if this journey took them to the Americaas, and the blue line if it took them to Africa. The red line is more consitent in that the return journey is 60 days, and sailors from portual at that time where very familiar with the north african coast