Abbas Ibn Firnas
Model of Abbas ibn Firnas’s flying machine
Water Clocks and Al Jazari's Castle Clock
Rock Crystal ewer made for the Fatimid caliph al-Aziz. 975-976. Rock Crystal. One of the few surviving Fatimid court objects, carved from a single piece of rock crystal. al-Aziz ruled Egypt from 975 to 996. The technique of cutting crystal was said to have been introduced by ‘Abbas ibn Firnas (d. 887), scholar and inventor in the courts of ‘Abd al-Raḥman II and Muḥammad I.
Abbas ibn Firnas d'Andalusie
Model of Abbas ibn Firnas’s flying machine at Ibn Battuta mall, Dubai
Model of Abbas ibn Firnas’s flying machine
Water Clocks and Al Jazari's Castle Clock
Rock Crystal ewer made for the Fatimid caliph al-Aziz. 975-976. Rock Crystal. One of the few surviving Fatimid court objects, carved from a single piece of rock crystal. al-Aziz ruled Egypt from 975 to 996. The technique of cutting crystal was said to have been introduced by ‘Abbas ibn Firnas (d. 887), scholar and inventor in the courts of ‘Abd al-Raḥman II and Muḥammad I.
Abbas ibn Firnas d'Andalusie
aviator engineer inventor physician
Abbas Ibn Firnas was born in the year 810, in Izn-Rand Onda, which was part of the Al-Andalusia Caliphate of Cordova. This is located in today’s Ronda, Spain, which was a Muslim dominated area. He was of ethnic North African, Berber descent and his name is derived from the word "Afernas", which is a common name in today’s Morocco and Algeria.
During his time, Al-Andalusia was a great centre of learning for engineers, architects and scientists. Cordova and Baghdad were twin cultural centres of Islamic art and science. Young Abbas studied medicine and astrology but was more interested in engineering and making his own inventions. He was also fond of Andalusia classical music and Arabic poetry.
Abbas Ibn Firnas lived in the Emirates of Cordova which covered parts of today’s Gibraltar (UK), Morocco, Portugal and Spain. He grew to be a polymath - he was an inventor, engineer, aviator, physician, Arabic poet and Andalusia musician.
He was influenced by Armen Firman, who in 852 had attempted to fly by jumping off a minaret of the grand mosque in Qurtuba, wearing a contraption fabricated out of a wooden frame and silk. The contraption dampened his fall and Armen got away with minor injuries from what may be referred to as the world’s first parachute attempt.
Firnas witnessed the jump and went on to make a scientific study of the shortcomings of Armen’s flight path. Twenty three year later in 875, he made his own flying machine out of a bamboo frame covered with silk cloth that had actual eagle feathers sewed to it. His machine had a harness, whereby he could be suspended and control the movement of the wings. This was an improvement on the contraption of Firman that had fixed wings.
Firnas took a long time to complete his study on avionics and satisfy himself on the reliability of his machine. Finally at the age of 70, he decided to jump off a cliff in the Jabal Al - ‘Arus hills to demonstrate his invention.
He invited an audience to witness the event and told them that if his invention was a success he would live to tell them about it. As per witnesses, he accomplished a flight of almost 10 minutes by flapping his wings up and down. Unfortunately, he had not worked out his landing and hit the ground with force leading to serious injuries to his back.
He lived another 12 years after his flight and continued his studies in avionics. Though he did not make another attempt to fly, he studied the shortcomings of his landing and came to the conclusion that besides wings there is a necessity of having a tail to act a rudder to control flight.
In addition to his attempt to fly, Abbas studied astronomy and designed a mechanized planetarium that had revolving planets that moved in relation to each other as they do in the universe.
He also experimented with crystal, quartz and sand to create transparent glass of high quality that was used for making famous Andalusian glasses for drinking water. He further studied the magnifying properties of glass and made lenses for correcting eyesight. It seems clear that rather than inventing or discovering “stone crystal,” Ibn Fimas introduced the cutting of rock crystal, an industry already known in other regions, into the Islamic West. This would have brought about a reduction in the export of quartz to the east, especially to Egypt, for it could now be worked where it was mined. The technique of making glass, known at least since the third millennium before Christ, does not seem to have undergone any change at this time.
He is also known to have designed a water clock called Al-Maqata for keeping track of time. His other contribution was to devise a means of cutting rock crystal that was only known in Egypt at that time.
Abbas Ibn Firnas devoted his entire life to science and wrote many books on mathematics, physics, astronomy and engineering that were taught in the University of Al-Andalusia. His book describing his first flight and the lessons learnt went on to inspire many more who endeavoured to fly, including Leonardo Da Vinci.
Ibn Fimas was the first Andalusian to understand the prosodic rules first laid down by al-Khalil ibn Ahmad in the eighth century, and he made known the tables of the Sind Hind, which later had great influence on the development of astronomy in Europe. However, his greatest work was his maiden attempt to fly and the book he wrote avionics that went on to inspire others. His attempt to fly was successful, and he actually managed to glide for a distance—but the landing was rough because, according to his critics, he did not devote enough study to the way birds use their tails when they land. This flight was often mentioned in Spanish and Arabic writings. Firnas made the first known controlled human flight many years before the Wright brothers. His achievement was recognised in 1979, by the Working Group for Planetary Systems Nomenclature (IAU / WGPSN) when they named a crater, ‘Ibn Firnas’, on the moon in his honour. The ‘Ibn Firnas Airport’ in Baghdad is also named after Abbas Ibn Firnas and so is a bridge over the Guadalquivir River in Cordova. The Libyans even have issued a postage stamp to honour him.
Another Ibn Firnas`s achievements were in the construction of a planetarium, a clock, and an armillary sphere; and he is often credited with the discovery of rock crystal. The texts now available are not explicit, however, and one cannot judge on the basis of the statements of E. Levi-Provenqal, for he had access to the Muqlabis manuscript, which has been lost.
Since Firnas was a multi-talented man, he even became one of the first teachers at the famous Cordovan school of music run by the Iraqi musician, Ziryab.
In his religious affiliation Abbas Ibn Firnas belonged to a Muslim tradition.
Abbas ibn Firnas was influenced by Armen Firman, who in 852 had attempted to fly by jumping off a minaret of the grand mosque in Qurtuba, wearing a contraption fabricated out of a wooden frame and silk. The contraption dampened his fall and Armen got away with minor injuries from what may be referred to as the world’s first parachute attempt. Firnas witnessed the jump and went on to make a scientific study of the shortcomings of Armen’s flight path. Twenty three year later in 875, he made his own flying machine out of a bamboo frame covered with silk cloth that had actual eagle feathers sewed to it. His machine had a harness, whereby he could be suspended and control the movement of the wings. This was an improvement on the contraption of Firman that had fixed wings.
Quotations:
“By guiding these wings up and down, I should ascend like the birds. If all goes well, after soaring for a time, I should be able to return safely to your side.”
"What man-made machine will ever achieve the complete perfection of even the goose's wing?"
As a child Abbas ibn Firnas was very inquisitive and loved opening up things and putting them back together. He was good with his hands and also enjoyed music. He was enthusiastic about witnessing any event in his neighborhood.
Physical Characteristics: Some people say that his life slowed down after his injury during his first flight. However, his mind remained active and he diverted his attention from doing physical things to putting his experiences down on paper.
Quotes from others about the person
The historians Ibn Sa‘id and Maqqarl state that “he was the first in al-Andalus [Andalusia] to invent (discover) stone crystal.”
Very little is known about Abbas ibn Firnas`s family life as his biography was not recorded at that time.
