IBN TUFAIL

ibn tufail, or tofail [abu bakr mahommed ibn 'abd-ul-malik ibn tufail ul-qaisi] (d. 1185), moslem philosopher, was born at guadix near granada. there he received a good training in philosophy and medicine, and is said to have been a pupil of avempace (q.v.). he became secretary to the governor of granada, and later physician and vizier to the mohad caliph, abu ya'qub yusuf. he died at morocco. his chief work is a philosophical romance, in which he describes the awakening and growth of intellect in a child removed from the influences of ordinary life. its arabic title is _risalat hayy ibn yaqzan_; it was edited by e. pococke as _philosophus autodidactus_ (oxford, 1671; 2nd ed., 1700), and with a french translation by l. gauthier (algiers, 1900). an english translation by s. ockley was published in 1708 and has been reprinted since. a spanish translation by f. pons boigues was published at saragossa (1900). another work of ibn tufail, the _kitab asrar ul-hikma ul-mashraqiyya_ ("secrets of eastern science"), was published at bulaq (1882); cf. s. munk, _melanges_ (1859), pp. 410 sqq., and t. j. de boer, _geschichte der philosophie im islam_ (stuttgart, 1901), pp. 160 sqq. (also an english translation). (g. w. t.) ibn usaibi'a [muwaffaquddin abu-l-'abbas ahmad ibn ul-qasim ibn abi usaibi'a] (1203-1270), arabian physician, was born at damascus, the son of an oculist, and studied medicine at damascus and cairo. in 1236 he was appointed by saladin physician to a new hospital in cairo, but surrendered the appointment the following year to take up a post given him by the amir of damascus in salkhad near that city. there he lived and died. he wrote '_uyun ul-anba'fi tabaqat ul-atibba_' or "lives of the physicians," which in its first edition (1245-1246) was dedicated to the vizier of damascus. this he enlarged, though it is uncertain whether the new edition was made public in the lifetime of the author. edition by a. muller (konigsberg, 1884). (g. w. t.)