Who is Abu Reyhan Biruni (Al- Biruni)?

Do you know who Abu Reyhan Biruni (Al- Biruni) is?

“Biruni” is the name of a famous Iranian scientist.

He spent lots of time finding the special weight of objects.

He was excel in the field of philosophy, math, calendar, geology, history, and other sciences of his era than other scientists and philosophers.

Today, we want to give more information about this prominent character.

Biography of Abu Reyhan Biruni

Abu Reyhan Biruni was born in the third of Dhul Hijjah in the lunar year of 363, around Kaas in Kharazm. He admits in his poems that he doesn’t know anything about his family.

He spent 25 years of his life in Kaas city and learned sciences like religious jurisprudence, theology, math, and astronomy.

He was the advocator of the Al-Fariq dynasty in Kharazm and had a family relationship with them.

When he went to Gorgas and had a meeting with Amir Qabous Ebne Voshmgir, wrote his first book means “Asar ol- baghiye an al-ghoroun al-khaliye” and he offered it to Amir Qabous.

He went to Al-Bavand court and wrote the book “Maghalid Elm al-Ma Yohaddes Fi Sath Basit al-kareh” and returned to Gorgan. He had observed two lunar eclipses in Al-Mamoun court.

He was the counselor of Abol-Abbas Mamoun for 7 years and he had become his confidant that he sent him on political trips.

He does his astronomical observation works in the palace of Mamoun Ebne Mamoun in Kharazm court. He invented a device called “Halghe Shahiye”.

Some historical resources believe that he was carried as a slave to Ghazneh after the victory of Kharazm by the Ghaznavid.

Tomb of Abu Reyhan Biruni

He died in 427 S.H in Ghazneh city.

The reason for his death isn’t clear, but it was due to his old age.

He wrote in the introduction of his book named “Alsaydneh” that when he was above 80 years old, had a hearing and vision problems and an assistant helped him in writing books.

The design of his tomb is a compound of Ghaznavid period architecture with attributes of Islamic designs that were contrived in the form of an octagonal star.

This design was inspired by some architectural attributes of King Bahram Minaret and Sultan Masoud Ghaznavi.

In the design of this tomb, their works of him are being used. The pattern of the solar system was used in the ceiling of the monument. This tomb doesn’t completely built-in Ghazne.

Inventions of Abu Reyhan Biruni

Abu Reyhan Biruni’s title was “Hakim”.

He was the first one that calculated the weight of objects. This calculation has a little different from the weights of objects that are being calculated by today’s scientists, who have lots of facilities.

Measuring of the geographical length and width of different places and defining their position in the geographical sphere was one of his valuable works.

Determination of tides was first considered by him. He was the one who calculated the most accurate figure of the length of the earth’s circumference.

He is the inventor of the earth’s rotation hypothesis. His scales are the most accurate ones that were invented.

Books and authoring of Abu Reyhan Biruni

His remaining books and works show that he was a famous scientist in that era. He had a multidimensional scientific character.

The authoring of him was written in Arabic language and he translated the book “Altafhim” into Persian. He wrote 113 books and 146 treatises till he was 65 years old.

Speeches of Al-Biruni

The speeches of Abu Reyhan Biruni has scientific and philosophical aspect.

You can study his works to understand his speeches. He didn’t show any prejudice against science.

He learned Sanskrit when he was 50.

He was a poet and literary man in his period.

He had translated the Greek story of “Shadbahr and Eyn al-Hayat” into Arabic.

The theme of his stories didn’t match with Iranian culture and it remained from Balkh Budayi culture.

The lack of literary speeches caused his literary face to become faded and also doesn’t remember as a man of letters.

Al-Biruni and Ibn Sina

Biruni was a genius in his era and according to the narration of some philosophers and researchers, he had more information and talent in philosophy than Abu Ali Sina.

Ibn Sina was a philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer who lived in the same era as Abu Reyhan Biruni.

They knew each other but had many differences. Biruni had a critical and active character and was looking for discovery;

so he was getting closer to new science, but Ibn Sina tried to compound and complete his prior sciences.

We can’t say that Ibn Sina had a lower scientific position than Biruni, but Ibn Sina liked to combine concepts and had a more encyclopedic insight.

According to Nezami Arouzi in four articles, these two scientists were friends and argued about scientific controversies in their meetings that Abu Reyhan Biruni referred to them in the book of “Asar Al-baghiyeh”.

FAQ

Conclusion

Al-Biruni left valuable works from himself in different fields, but, unfortunately, a few remain today.

Do you have more information about Abu Reyhan Biruni?

Which aspect of his life is interesting for you?

Which book did you read he writes that. Which invention of theirs is better? Share your comments with us…