[1] Summary in E. G. Browne, _A Literary History of Persia_ (London,
1902), pp. 387 f.
[2] The preface was translated into German by Theodor Nöldeke in his
_Beiträge_ (Hanover, 1864), pp. 1-51.
IBN SA'D [Abu 'Abdallah Mahommed ibn Sa'd ibn Mani' uz-Zuhri, often
called Katib ul-Waqidi ("secretary of Waqidi") of Basra] (d. 845),
Arabian biographer, received his training in tradition from Waqidi and
other celebrated teachers. He lived for the most part in Bagdad, and had
the reputation of being both trustworthy and accurate in his writings,
which, in consequence, were much used by later writers. His work, the
_Kitab ul-Tabaqat ul-Kabir_ (15 vols.) contains the lives of Mahomet,
his Companions and Helpers (including those who fought at Badr as a
special class) and of the following generation (the Followers) who
received their traditions from the personal friends of the Prophet.
This work has been edited under the superintendence of E. Sachau
(Leiden, 1904 sqq.); cf. O. Loth, _Das Classenbuch des Ibn Sa'd_
(Leipzig, 1869). (G. W. T.)
IBN TIBBON, a family of Jewish translators, who flourished in Provence
in the 12th and 13th centuries. They all made original contributions to
philosophical and scientific literature, but their permanent fame is
based on their translations. Between them they rendered into Hebrew all
the chief Jewish writings of the middle ages. These Hebrew translations
were, in their turn, rendered into Latin (by Buxtorf and others) and in
this form the works of Jewish authors found their way into the learned
circles of Europe. The chief members of the Ibn Tibbon family were (1)
JUDAH BEN SAUL (1120-1190), who was born in Spain but settled in Lunel.
He translated the works of Bahya, Halevi, Saadiah and the grammatical
treatises of Janah. (2) His son, SAMUEL (1150-1230), translated the
_Guide of the Perplexed_ by Maimonides. He justly termed his father "the
father of the Translators," but Samuel's own method surpassed his
father's in lucidity and fidelity to the original. (3) Son of Samuel,
MOSES (died 1283). He translated into Hebrew a large number of Arabic
books (including the Arabic form of Euclid). The Ibn Tibbon family thus
rendered conspicuous services to European culture, and did much to
further among Jews who did not understand Arabic the study of science
and philosophy. (I. A.)
IBN TUFAIL, or TOFAIL [Abu Bakr Mahommed ibn 'Abd-ul-Malik ibn Tufail
ul-Qaisi] (d. 1185), Moslem philosopher, was born at Guadix near
Granada. There he received a good training in philosophy and medicine,
and is said to have been a pupil of Avempace (q.v.). He became secretary
to the governor of Granada, and later physician and vizier to the Mohad
caliph, Abu Ya'qub Yusuf. He died at Morocco.
His chief work is a philosophical romance, in which he describes the
awakening and growth of intellect in a child removed from the
influences of ordinary life. Its Arabic title is _Risalat Hayy ibn
Yaqzan_; it was edited by E. Pococke as _Philosophus autodidactus_
(Oxford, 1671; 2nd ed., 1700), and with a French translation by L.
Gauthier (Algiers, 1900). An English translation by S. Ockley was
published in 1708 and has been reprinted since. A Spanish translation
by F. Pons Boigues was published at Saragossa (1900). Another work of
Ibn Tufail, the _Kitab Asrar ul-Hikma ul-mashraqiyya_ ("Secrets of
Eastern Science"), was published at Bulaq (1882); cf. S. Munk,
_Mélanges_ (1859), pp. 410 sqq., and T. J. de Boer, _Geschichte der
Philosophie im Islam_ (Stuttgart, 1901), pp. 160 sqq. (also an English
translation). (G. W. T.)
IBN USAIBI'A [Muwaffaquddin Abu-l-'Abbas Ahmad ibn ul-Qasim ibn Abi
Usaibi'a] (1203-1270), Arabian physician, was born at Damascus, the son
of an oculist, and studied medicine at Damascus and Cairo. In 1236 he
was appointed by Saladin physician to a new hospital in Cairo, but
surrendered the appointment the following year to take up a post given
him by the amir of Damascus in Salkhad near that city. There he lived
and died. He wrote '_Uyun ul-Anba'fi Tabaqat ul-Atibba_' or "Lives of
the Physicians," which in its first edition (1245-1246) was dedicated to
the vizier of Damascus. This he enlarged, though it is uncertain whether
the new edition was made public in the lifetime of the author.