| From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, pp. 948-949 |
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Courtesy of 
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Qusṭā ibn
Lūqā al‐Baʿlabakkī
Elaheh Kheirandish
Alternate
name
Costa ben Luca
Born Baʿlabakk,
(Lebanon), probably circa 820
Died (Armenia), probably
circa 912–913
Qusṭā
ibn Lūqā (Constantine, son of Loukas), a scholar of Greek Christian
origin working in Islamic lands in the 9th century, did work in astronomy
that included translations of Greek astronomical works and original compositions.
In addition, he composed and translated mathematical, medical, and philosophical
works. Qusṭā's
scholarly reputation extended far and wide, and he was noted for his scientific
achievements (especially in medicine, where his authority surpassed Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq according to the bibliographer
Ibn al‐Nadīm [died: circa 990]). He reportedly collected
Greek scientific manuscripts from Byzantine lands; his translations and revisions
of these formed an important part of his scholarly activities. Qusṭā was fluent in Greek (as
well as Syriac), as demanded by his scientific translations, and he also mastered
Arabic, a language in which he produced many original scientific compositions.
Qusṭā's scholarly career, which
was centered in Baghdad, is notable for his association with numerous patrons,
who are particularly important for establishing his biography as well as the
chronology of his work. These include various members of the ʿAbbāsid caliphal
family, government officials, and a Christian patriarch; the most likely interpretation
of the evidence places the bulk of his work in the second half of the 9th
century.
The scientific works of Qusṭā include several astronomical compositions, which
cover both the theoretical and the practical aspects of astronomy. The best
known are:
| (1) |
Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal
bi‐ʾl–kura al‐nujūmiyya (On the use of the
celestial globe; with some variations as to title), which contains 65
chapters and was widely disseminated through at least two Arabic recensions
as well as Latin, Hebrew, Spanish, and Italian translations; |
| (2) |
the extant astronomical work, Hayʾat al‐aflāk
(On the configuration of celestial bodies; Bodleian Library MS Arabic
879, Uri, p. 190), which is one of the earliest compositions in theoretical
(hayʾa) astronomy; |
| (3) |
Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā
ʿilm al‐nujūm (Introduction to the science of astronomy – astrology);
|
| (4) |
Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā
al‐hayʾa wa‐ḥarakāt al‐aflāk
wa‐ʾl‐kawākib (Introduction to the
configuration and movements of celestial bodies and stars); |
| (5) |
Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal
bi‐ʾl‐asṭurlāb
al‐kurī (On the use of the spherical astrolabe;
Leiden University Library MS Or. 51.2: Handlist, p. 12); and
|
| (6) |
Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal
bi‐ʾl‐kura dhāt al‐kursī (On the use of the mounted celestial sphere). |
The
two introductory astronomical titles (3 and 4), reported in the lists of Ibn
al‐Nadīm's Fihrist and Ibn Qifṭī (died: 1248), respectively, are not extant, unless
the latter is the same as the theoretical work mentioned in (2). F. Sezgin
suggests that these two works are the same; however, they are listed as two
distinct titles by Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa
(died: 1269). Work (5) is sometimes questioned as a work by Qusṭā but seems to represent
a variation in title of (1). Although E. Wiedemann (1913) treats (6) as an
independent work, it also seems to be a variation in title of (1). This leaves
Qusṭā with at least four distinct astronomical compositions,
two of which (1 and 2) are extant.
Qusta's
works also include translations of the so called Little Astronomy or “Intermediate
Books” (Kutub al‐mutawassiṭāt), texts studied
after Euclidean geometry in preparation for Ptolemaic astronomy. Extant among
these are the Arabic versions of Theodosius's
Spherics (Kitāb al‐Ukar) and Autolycus's
Rising and Setting [of Fixed Stars] (Kitāb al‐Ṭulūʿ
wa‐ʾl‐ghurūb). In addition to other
extant translations, such as Hero of Alexandria's “On the Raising of Heavy
Objects” (Fī rafʿ al‐ashyāʾ al‐thaqīla), Qusṭā is associated with Arabic
versions of Aristotle's
Physics as well as the later commentaries of Alexander of Aphrodisias
and Philoponus
on certain of their books. This dual translation program fits well with his
statements about the “cooperation” of natural philosophy and geometry in optics
as a mixed mathematical science, a genre to which astronomy and mechanics
also belong.
Selected References
Brockelmann, Carl (1943). Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur.
2nd ed. Vol. 1, pp. 222–223. Leiden: E. J. Brill. (Contains lists of manuscripts
for Qustā's works including five astronomical titles. Entries i, k, g,
and f in Section I correspond to nos. 1, 2, 5, and 6 above.)
Browne, E. G. (1902). A Literary History of Persia. 2
Vols, Vol. 1, p. 278. London: T. F. Unwin. (Contains an 11th‐century
Persian poem referring to Qusṭā ibn Lūqā.)
Gabrieli,
G. (1912). “Nota bibliographica su Qusṭā ibn Lūqā.” Atti
della R. Accademia dei Lincei: Rendiconti, classe di scienze morali, storiche
e filologiche 21: fasc. 5–6 : 341–382. (Contains
a list of 69 of Qusṭā's compositions and 17 translations, including
six astronomical titles [nos. 1–6 above, numbered respectively as nos. 40,
37, 54, 37, 67, 40], with references to historical and modern sources and
manuscript copies and titles [pp. 348–350; p. 348: no. 40: Q. N. is problematic].)
Gutas,
Dimitri (1998). Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco–Arabic Translation
Movement in Baghdad and Early ʿAbbāsid
Society (2nd–4th/8th–10th centuries). London: Routledge.
(Contains a section on the problematic question of Qusṭā's early
patrons.)
Harvey, E. Ruth (1975).
“Qusṭā ibn Lūqā
al‐Baʿlabakkī.”
In Dictionary of Scientific Biography, edited by Charles Coulston Gillispie,
Vol. 11, pp. 244–246. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. (Contains a list
of Qusṭā's works including four of the astronomical titles listed
above [nos. 1, 2, 3, and 5] with reference to relevant manuscripts, reference
works, and secondary sources up to 1975, with the exception of the important
article of Wiedemann in the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam.)
Hill, D. (1986). “Ḳusṭā b. Lūkā
al‐Baʿlabakkī.”
In Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2nd ed. Vol. 5, pp. 529–530. Leiden: E.
J. Brill. (Contains references to some of Qusṭā's works, including
two on astronomy [with English titles, apparently nos. 1 and 3 above], and
a short bibliography.)
Ibn
Abī Uṣaybiʿa
(1882–1884). ʿUyūn
al‐anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt
al‐atibbāʾ, edited
by August Müller. 2 Vols, Vol. 1, pp. 144–245. Cairo‐Königsberg. (Contains
a list of over 60 of Qusṭā's works including three astronomical
titles [nos. 1, 3, and 4 above].)
Ibn al‐Nadīm (1970). The Fihrist of al‐Nadīm:
A Tenth‐Century Survey of Muslim Culture, edited and translated
by Bayard Dodge. 2 vols, Vol. 1, p. 295; Vol. 2, pp. 694–695. New York: Columbia
University Press. (Contains a list of over 30 of Qusṭā's compositions
including 2 astronomical titles [nos. 1 and 3 above].)
Kheirandish, Elaheh (1999). The Arabic Version of Euclid's
Optics (Kitāb Uqlīdis fī Ikhtilāf al‐manāẓir).
2 Vols. New York: Springer‐Verlag. (Contains discussions of Qusṭā's
optical work, with reference to relevant sources and discussions [“Intermediate
Books”, mixed mathematical sciences, etc.].)
al‐Qiftī, Jamāl al‐Dīn (1903). Taʾrīkh
al‐ḥukamāʾ, edited by J. Lippert, Vol. 1, pp. 262–263.
Leipzig: Theodor Weicher. (Contains a list of over 20 of Qusṭā's
works including two astronomical titles [nos. 1 and 4 above].)
Ragep, F. J. (1993).
Naṣīr al‐Dīn
al‐Ṭūsī's Memoir
on Astronomy (al‐Tadhkira fī ʿilm
al‐hayʾa). 2 Vols. New York:
Springer‐Verlag. (Contains as part of its exhaustive treatment of Ṭūsī
and his important astronomical work, al‐Tadhkira, discussions
on several aspects of ʿilm
al‐hayʾa [“cosmography, configuration”].)
Rashed,
Roshdi (1997). Oeuvres philosophiques et scientifique d'Al‐Kindī.
Vol. 1, L'optique et la catoptrique. Leiden: E. J. Brill. (Contains the Arabic text and French translation
of Qusṭā's Kitāb fī ʿilal mā yaʿridu fī al‐marāyā
min ikhtilāf al‐manāẓir.)
Saliba, George (August 2001). “The Social Context of Islamic
Astronomy.” In Proceedings of the Conference: Islam and Science. Amman:
Royal Institute for Inter‐Faith Studies, forthcoming. (Contains a discussion
of Qusṭā's Hayʾat al‐aflāk [composition
date given as 860].)
Sezgin, Fuat Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums. Vol.
3, Medizin (1970): 270–274; Vol. 5, Mathematik (1974): 285–286;
Vol. 6, Astronomie (1978): 180–182. Leiden: E. J. Brill. (Contains
a list of the manuscripts of Qusṭā's works including four astronomical
titles [nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 above], the last three suggested as possibly referring
to the same work.)
Wiedemann, E. (1913). “Ḳosṭā
b. Lūḳā,
al‐Baʿalbakkī.”
In Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1st ed., Vol. 4, pp. 1081–1083. Leiden:
E. J. Brill. (Contains, in addition to a biography, references to his works
including four astronomical titles [nos. 1, 3, 5, and 6 above, listed as separate
works], with reference to the problems involved, including the attribution
of no. 6 to Qusṭā [pp. 1082–1083], with a short bibliography.)
Wilcox, Judith (1985).
“The Transmission and Influence of Qusta ibn Luqa's ‘On the Difference between
Spirit and the Soul.'” Ph.D. diss., City University of New York.
——— (1987). “Our Continuing
Discovery of the Greek Science of the Arabs: The Example of Qusṭā
ibn Lūqā.” Annals of Scholarship 4, no. 3: 57–74. (Contains
a more recent account of Qusṭā's scientific and philosophical works
and relevant sources.)
Worrell, W. H. (1944). “Qusta ibn Luqa on the Use of the Celestial Globe.” Isis 35: 285–293. (Contains, in addition to relevant references, a useful list of six variant Arabic titles often assumed as representing different works [including nos. 1 and 6 above], an English summary and discussion based on the manuscript copy in Michigan.)