Al-Beruniy (973-1048)

          Abu Raihan Mohamad Ibn Ahmad Al-Beruniy was one of the well-known figures associated with the court of King Mahmud Ghaznawi, who was the most famous king of Ghaznawiylar Sultanate (1th century). Born in the western part of Khiwa in 973 A.D, trained initially as a mathematician, Beruniy ventured into the fields of chemistry, astronomy, history, geography, and pharmacology. He proved to be the authority, par excellence, of classical Islamic knowledge. His mastership of Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and Greek gave him access to the treasures of ancient civilizations and a means to grasp their "truth". At an early age, the fame of his scholarship went around and when Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawiy conquered his homeland, he took Beruniy along with him in his journeys to India several times and thus he had the opportunity to travel all over India during a period of 20 years. He learnt Hindu philosophy, mathematics, geography and religion from the Pandits to whom he taught Greek and Arabic science and philosophy.

      Beruniy recorded observations of his travels through India in his well-known book "Hindiston" which gives a graphic account of the historical and social conditions of the sub-continent. At the end of this book he makes a mention of having translated two Sanskrit books into Arabic, one called Sakaya, which deals with the creation of things and their types, and the second,Patanjal dealing with what happens after the spirit leaves the body. His descriptions of India were so complete that even the Ayni-Akbaryi written by Abu-al-Fadal during the reign of Akbar, 600 years later, owes a great deal to Al-Beruniy's book. He observed that the Indus valley must be considered as an ancient sea basin filled up with alluvials.

      On his return from India, Al-Beruniy wrote his famous book Qanuni Masudi, which he dedicated to Sultan Mas'ud. The book discusses several theorems of astronomy, trigonometry, solar, lunar, and planetary motions and relative topics. In another well-known book Al-Athar al-Baqia, he has attempted a connected account of ancient history of nations and the related geographical knowledge. In this book, he has discussed the rotation of the earth and has given correct values of latitudes and longitudes of various places. He has also made considerable contribution to several aspects of physical and economic geography in this book.

   Yaqut, in Mu'jam al-A`lam, lists 180 works attributed to Beruniy.

    It's necesarry to note that Beruniy was well versed in anti-Aristotelian philosophy and wrote a critique of Mohamad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi. He condemned various aspects of Greek philosophy in his series of Questions and Answers. He exchanged in this series with Ibn Sina, whom Beruniy named Al-Fata al-Fadil (the young scholar), echoing a feeling of mutual respect and friendship.

       Beruniy died in the year of 1048 at the age of 75, one year after the completion of his book on pharmacology, Kitab al-Saydalah. He never got married, and passed his life as a bachelor. It is said that he never raised his head from reading books and went out only twice a year on festival occasions, to procure provisions for himself. He has been considered as one of the greatest scientists of Islam, and, all considered, one of the greatest of all times. His critical spirit, love of truth, and scientific approach were combined with a sense of toleration. His enthusiasm for knowledge may be judged from his claim that the phrase "Allah is Omniscient does not justify ignorance".