(b Córdoba, 1126; d Marrakech, 10 Dec 1198). Arab philosopher, lawyer and judge. He studied law and medicine, although philosophy and mathematics interested him more. From 1153 onwards he held important positions as judge and vizier at the courts of Muslim Spain (Seville and Córdoba) and Morocco (Marrakech). As a philosopher he had great influence on Christian Europe; his commentaries on Aristotle’s writings were studied by European scholars for nearly 400 years. His influence on European musical theory was mainly through his Sharh (or Talkhīs) fī l-nafs li-Aristūtālis (‘Commentary on Aristotle’s De anima’), of which the section on the theory of sound was particularly important. The commentary was soon afterwards translated into Latin and Hebrew. The first printed Latin text appeared in Padua in 1472; by 1600 there were approximately 100 editions.
EI2 (R. Arnaldez)
N. Morata: El compendio de anima (Madrid, 1934)
based on MGG1 (i, 894–5) by permission of Bärenreiter
H.G. FARMER/R