al-Badi' al-Asturlabi

البديع الأسترلابي

c. 1138 CE · 533 AH

Baghdad

Hibatallah ibn al-Hasan, known as al-Badi' al-Asturlabi; a translator, famed poet and eminent littérateur, and the unique master of his age in making astronomical instruments — a craft that earned him a large fortune in al-Mustarshid's caliphate; al-Imad al-Katib praises him in the Kharida, and Ibn Khallikan calls him witty in all his movements though much given to ribaldry; d. of paralysis in 533, buried at Baghdad's Wardiyya cemetery 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Astronomer · engineer · Poet
Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

105010751100112511501175120012251250 c. c. c. c. c. c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era · The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: Abd al-Mughith al-Harbi · Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abd al-Razzaq ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani · Abd al-Wahhab al-Shirazi · Abd al-Wahhab ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani

In space

Baghdad

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

Hibatallah b. al-Hasan b. Yusuf, known as al-Badi' al-Asturlabi; the man of this tarjama, a famous poet and one of the excellent litterateurs — unique in his age for crafting astronomical instruments, master of that craft, by which he gained much wealth in al-Mustarshid's caliphate. 1

His verse

Al-'Imad al-Katib mentions him in the Kharida, praises him and quotes excerpts of his verse; Ibn Khallikan said he was full of wit and charm in all his movements. He died of palsy in 533 and was buried at Baghdad's Wardiyya cemetery. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Died in
Baghdad

People and things also explored

The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· al-Bimaristan al-Muqtadiri· Bimaristan al-Sayyida· Dar al-'Ilm of Baghdad (Sabur's library)· The Jami' al-Qati'a of Baghdad· The mosque of Qati'at Umm Ja'far

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 583-584
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Badi' al-Asturlabi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/al-badi-al-asturlabi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad

The Nizamiyya of Baghdad, first and most famous of the madrasas founded by the vizier Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi: building began in 457 and sisters rose at Nishapur, Isfahan, Herat, Basra, Mosul and Amid; the Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni then Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi taught in it, and it mothered the Sunni institutional model that the later madrasas of Baghdad followed — the caliphs prayed there and Nizam al-Mulk himself visited to inspect its library.