Died Córdova, (Spain), 15 October 1100
According to his biographer Isḥāq Israeli, Zarqālī was a renowned instrument maker in Toledo, where he taught himself astronomy. He worked for Ṣā ҁ id al‐Andalusī and was a leading figure among Ṣāҁid's group of astronomers. An anonymous Egyptian 14th‐century source (Kanz al‐yawāqīt, Leiden Universiteitsbibliotheek, MS 468) quotes a passage from Ṣāҁid's lost work entitled Ṭabaqāt al‐ḥukamā', in which it is stated that Zarqālī constructed an astronomical instrument, called al‐zarqāla, for al‐Ma'mūn (1043–1075), the ruler of Toledo, in the year 1048/1049. It also says that Zarqālī wrote a treatise of 100 chapters on its use. Zarqālī left Toledo between 1081, the beginning of the reign of al‐Qādir, and 1085, the date of the conquest of the city by Alfonso VI. He settled in Córdova, where he was protected by al‐Muҁtamid ibn ҁAbbād (1069–1091), ruler of Seville.
There are many variations of the name of Zarqālī, known as Azarquiel in Latin. According to...
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Selected References
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Puig, R. (2007). Zarqālī: Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Yaḥyā al‐Naqqāsh al‐Tujībī al‐Zarqālī. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_1522
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