Jabir ibn hayyan biography definition

Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. eighth and early ninth centuries) was an Islamic thinker from the early medieval period to whom is ascribed authorship of a large number of alchemical, practical, and philosophical works.

Many of these works were translated and distributed throughout the learning centers of medieval Europe under the latinized form of Jabir's name, Geber. Whether or not he was genuinely the author of all the works attributed to him, his contributions were substantial, laying the foundations of modern chemistry.

The two earliest biographical sources that mention Jabir are from the tenth century.

Jabir ibn hayyan biography definition

The first, Notes of Abu Suaiman al-Mantiqi al-Sijistani, disputes the authorship of several works ascribed to him, and casts doubt on his very existence. Another work, the Katib al-Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, part biography and part bibliography, written around 987, ascribes a long list of works to Jabir and insists that he was a real personage.

Ibn al-Nadim links Jabir with h