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Secondary sourceBook987

Al-Fihrist

Ibn al-Nadim · 987

A tenth-century bibliographic catalogue by Ibn al-Nadim that provides the earliest substantial biographical record of al-Khwarizmi, including his origin and a list of his works.

This catalogue, written over a century after al-Khwarizmi's death, is the earliest substantial biographical source on his life and works.

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Title page of an Arabic book. Large decorative calligraphic title reads الفهرست لابن النديم. Below is the date سنة ١٣٤٨ هـ. Lower text gives the publisher's details in Arabic, and a faint pencil note in Latin letters reads al-Nadim, Ibn-abi-Ya'qub at top left.
Al-Fihrist, bibliographic catalogue by Ibn al-Nadim, compiled 987.

About this source

What it is

Al-Fihrist is a catalogue of books and authors compiled by Ibn al-Nadim in Baghdad, completed in 987. It covers thousands of books and authors across many fields of knowledge from the Islamic world and beyond.

Why it matters

Because so many early works have been lost, Al-Fihrist is a crucial source for knowing which books once existed and who wrote them. Its entry on al-Khwarizmi records his origin in Khwarazm and lists his writings, making it one of the earliest surviving sources of biographical information about him, written more than a century after his death.

Look closer

  • Why might a later catalogue, not a document from al-Khwarizmi's own lifetime, be one of our main sources about him?
  • What biases might Ibn al-Nadim have had in deciding which books and authors to include?
  • What questions about al-Khwarizmi's life does this catalogue leave unanswered?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Al-Khwarizmi and Al-Razi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Manuscript title page in Arabic script with a decorated gold-and-brown border. The large heading reads the title of al-Khwarizmi's algebra work, with smaller lines of text beneath in a calligraphic hand, on aged parchment.Book

Primary source

Al-Jabr

Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi · c. 820

Open manuscript of two facing pages covered in handwritten Arabic script in brown ink on aged, yellowed paper, with small geometric diagrams drawn in red ink with labeled letters near the bottom of each page. The page edges are dark against a black background.Book

Primary source

Algebra Manuscript, Bodleian MS. Huntington 214

Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi · 1342

Black-and-white scan of a medieval Latin manuscript page. A large decorated initial D with ornate knotwork sits at upper left, and the text begins with 'DIXIT algorizmi' in dense handwritten script. A folio number 104 appears at top right.Book

Secondary source

Dixit Algorizmi

Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Two facing pages of an Arabic manuscript with black ink text in the margins and a colored diagram in the center: a blue and red river system with branching channels and lakes, a green rectangular panel on the left, and a brown curved shape on the right. Labels in Arabic are written along the diagram.Artifact

Primary source

Earliest Extant Map of the Nile

Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi

Scanned black-and-white manuscript page of medieval Latin tables with columns of Roman numerals, headed 'Tabula de cognoscendo motu medium centrum solaris'. Handwritten marginal notes and a column of dated entries appear at the bottom.Document

Secondary source

Zij Manuscript, Corpus Christi College MS 283

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