Abu ʾl-Khayr al-Ishbīlī ( 11th century), called al-Shajjār ('the arboriculturist'), was an
Andalusī agronomist and the author of two
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
works on agriculture and botany. Little is known of his life. He was born in
Seville
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
and lived during the reign of the Emir
al-Muʿtamid (1069–1091), in whose gardens he probably worked. He was a student of
Ibn Baṣṣāl and
Ibn al-Lūnquh.
The two works attributed to Abu ʾl-Khayr are:
*''Kitāb al-filāḥa'' ("Book of Husbandry"), a treatise on agriculture. It is found in at least three manuscripts in Paris, Rabat and Tetuan. In addition, the Arabic text has been published, as have partial French and complete Spanish translations.
*''Umdat al-ṭabīb fī ma‘rifat al-nabāt li-kull labīb'' ("The Physician's Reliance in the Knowledge of Plants for Every Man of Understanding"), an encyclopedia of botanical knowledge. This work is anonymous and traditionally ascribed to the "Anonymous Botanist of Seville", but arguments that it is the work of Abu ʾl-Khayr have been accepted by its most recent editors (2004).
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Notes
Bibliography
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External links
BnF, Arabe 4764
Writers from Seville
11th-century writers from al-Andalus
11th-century agronomists