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A History of Muslim Pharmacy:
Life and Time of al-Biruni and al-Ghafiqi

As al-Biruni lived during the golden age of cultural activities under the Samaniyyah and the Ghaznawiyyah (mid..fourth/tenth to mid-fifth / eleventh centuries) in the eastern section of the Islamic world, so did al-Ghafiqi, who flourished during the greatest era of intellectual productivity in the 'western section of the Islamic world in al-Andalus (from late fourth/tenth century to late sixth/twelfth). They were separated by one century in time, but the aspirations of the two periods added impetus to this flourishing of the human mind and spirit in all areas of useful knowledge, as the case was in the intellectual contributions of these two figures.

We are fortunate to have a detailed record of the private and scientific life of al-Biruni but we know very little of al-Ghafiqi's. The former, after having his early education in Khwarizm, his birth place (born in its suburb hence called al-Biruni), he soon advanced in the study of astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and the natural sciences. He started scientific experimentations in his late teens, a desire for experimental reasoning the accompanied his activities throughout his life. After the fall of the Samaniyyah and the Khwarizmshah's in 400 / 1010, he entered the service of the Ghaznawiyyah until is death in 442/1051 in Ghaznah -in present-day Afghanistan, being then the capital city of his patrons. From early youth and during his travels in central Asia he was interested in the fauna and flora of the region, a fact that eventually led him to collect the data that resulted in his writing his present book on pharmacy and materia medica.

In regard to al-Ghafiqi s biographical sketches they are few and very brief. We know that he was a highly respected physician in Cordoba (Muslim Spain), and that he was interested in pharmacy as well. He was one of those doctors who insisted on the need for good acquaintance with drugs from the three natural kingdoms and their modes of action. He confirms such a conjecture in his own book al-jami'. In it he also shows his wide knowledge of the fauna and flora of the Iberian peninsula, which he describes within the contents of his book. With this in mind let us proceed to examine and compare these two important landmarks in the history of pharmacy in Islam.