Introduction

Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī was born in 362/973 of an Iranian family in the province of Khwarizm on the southern shores of the Aral Sea. He spent his formative years there, receiving a thorough scientific training, before travelling to seek patronage from a variety of rulers. At the court of Jurjan, southeast of the Caspian Sea, he wrote his first great work, the “Chronology of Ancient Nations” (ca. 390/1000), on the subject of calendars and eras, and important mathematical, astronomical and meteorological problems. Later he was employed at the court of Ghazna, probably as astrologer to the famous Sultan MahmUd, and there for many years taught the Greek sciences whilst acquiring the enormous wealth of knowledge, including mastery of Sanskrit, that would go into his perhaps most famous work, the “Description of India” (ca. 421/1030). He wrote on most of the sciences current in his time and had a very lively enquiring mind, and this makes the chapter on iron in his “Sum of Knowledge about Precious Stones” (Kitāb al-jamāhir fī maʿrifat al-jawāhir) all the more interesting to us. Bīrūnī (d. 440/1048) wrote this work later in his life, probably during the reign of MahmUd's grandson, Mawdūd (r. 432-442/1041-1050).

This book is, however, not a straightforward one, and contains much more than the title would lead one to think.1 The introduction praises the wisdom manifested in the Creation and describes the various ranks of creatures and the way God has given to each just what it is required for its existence.