Abu l-Khayr al-Ishbili

Abu l-Khayr al-Ishbili, surnamed al-Mushajjir, "the arboriculturist", was a native of Seville and the author of a book on agriculture. The unsigned Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) entry says that neither his birth nor his death is known. He is quoted by Ibn al-'Awwam, who lived in the second half of the sixth/twelfth century, so he must belong to an earlier period, probably contemporary with the botanist-physicians of the fifth/eleventh century. ¹

His Kitab al-Filaha survives in manuscripts in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, the Zaytuna mosque in Tunis, and private libraries in North Africa. The article summarises its parts: general matters of planting (the months, the moon, the time trees take to bear fruit, damage from weather, animals, fire and water, and the care of olives, vines, figs and palms); plantations, including grafting, pruning and conserves; and animals of the yard, bees and wild animals. ¹