Alternate Name
Born Marrakech, (Morocco), 29 or 30 December 1256
Died 31 July 1321
Ibn al-Bannā’ al-Marrākushī, mathematician and astronomer, was born in Marrakech where he studied a variety of subjects, reportedly with at least 17 masters. However, he frequently went to Aghmāt, near Marrakech, where he was a student of AbūҁAbd Allāh al-Hazmīrī (died: 1279); it may have been due to his influence that Ibn al-Bannā’ became interested in both astronomy and astrology, and gained the reputation of being a Sufi. Ibn al-Bannā’ was probably a practicing astrologer in the service of the Marīnid sultan Abū Saҁīd (reigned: 1309–1331), and he is said to have predicted the exact circumstances of the latter’s death, which took place some 10 years after his own. He was dedicated to his teaching, which took place both in the great mosque of Marrakech and in his own home, and he had at least eight disciples.
The catalog of Ibn al-Bannā’s works comprises about a 100 titles, out of which some...
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Aballāgh, Muhammad (1994). Rafҁal-hijābҁan wujūh aҁmāl al-hisāb li-Ibn al-Bannā’ al-Marrākushī. Taqdīm wa-dirāsa wa-tahqīq. Fez.
Calvo, E. (1989). “La Risālat al-safīha al-muštarakaҁalâ al-šakkāziyya de Ibn al-Bannā’ de Marrākuš.” Al-Qantara 10: 21–50.
— (2004). “Two Treatises on Mīqāt from the Maghrib (14th and 15th centuries A.D.).” Suhayl 4: 159–206.
Djebbar, Ahmed and Muhammad Aballāgh (2001). Ḥayāt wa-mu’allafāt Ibn al-Bannā’ al-Murrākushī [sic] maҁa nusūs ghayr manshūra. Rabat. (This biobibliographical survey includes a very complete list of editions and secondary literature. It updates the standard papers of H. P. J. Rénaud [1937 and 1938].)
Forcada, Miquel (1998). “Books of Anwā’ in al-Andalus.” In The Formation of al-Andalus, Part 2: Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences, edited by Maribel Fierro and Julio Samsó, pp. 305–328. Aldershot: Ashgate.
al-Khattābī, Muhammad al-ҁArabī (1986).ҁIlm al-mawāqīt. Uṣūluhu wa-manāhijuh. Muhammadiyya (Morocco).
King, David A. (1998). “On the History of Astronomy in the Medieval Maghrib.” In Études philosophiques et sociologiques dédiées à Jamal ed-Dine Alaoui, pp. 27–61. Fez.
Puig, Roser (1987). “El Taqbīlҁalā risālat al-safīha al-zarqāliyya de Ibn al-Bannā’ de Marrākush.” Al-Qantara 8: 45–64.
Rénaud, H. P. J. (1937). “Sur les dates de la vie du mathématicien arabe marocain Ibn al-Bannā’.” Isis 27: 216–218.
— (1938). “Ibn al-Bannā’ de Marrakech, Sûfî et mathématicien (XIIIe - XIVe s. J. C.).” Hespéris 25: 13–42.
— (ed.) (1948). Le Calendrier d’Ibn al-Bannâ de Marrakech (1256–1321 J. C.). Texte arabe inédit, établi d’après 5 manuscrits, de la Risâla fi’l-anwâ’, avec une traduction française annotée et une introduction par H. P. J. Rénaud. Paris: Larose.
Saҁīdān, Ahmad Salīm (ed.) (1984). Al-Maqālāt fīҁilm al-hisāb li-Ibn al-Bannā’ al-Marrākushī. Amman.
— (ed.) (1986). Tārīkh al-jabr fī al-ҁâlam al-ҁârabî. Kuwait.
Samsó, Julio (1998). “An Outline of the History of Maghribī Zijes from the End of the Thirteenth Century.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 29: 93–102.
Samsó, Julio and Eduardo Millás (1994). “Ibn al-Bannā’, Ibn Ishāq and Ibn al-Zarqālluh’s Solar Theory.” In Islamic Astronomy and Medieval Spain, edited by Julio Samsó, X. Aldershot: Variorum.
— (1998). “The Computation of Planetary Longitudes in the Zīj of Ibn al-Bannā’.” Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 8: 259–286.
Suwaysī, Muhammad (1969). Ibn al-Bannā’, Talkhīs aҁmāl al-hisāb. Tunis. (Edition, translation, and commentary.)
Vernet, Juan (1980). “La supervivencia de la astronomía de Ibn al-Bannā’.” Al-Qantara 1: 445–451.
— (ed.) (1952). Contribución al estudio de la labor astronómica de Ibn al-Bannā’. Tetouan.
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Samsó, J. (2014). Ibn al-Bannā’: Abū al-ҁAbbās Aḥmad Ibn Muḥammad IbnҁUthmān al-Azdī al-Marrākushī. In: Hockey, T., et al. Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9917-7_675
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