Career
He is noted for introducing the experimental scientific method in the area of materia medica. His techniques such as separating verified and unverified reports led to the development of the field of pharmacology. Though often referred to by multiple nicknames, Nabati's birth name was Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Mufarrij bin Abdillah.
Nabati was a descendant of freed slaves, and the nickname Ibn al-Rumiyah or "son of the Roman woman" was due to his Byzantine Greek ethnicity, a fact which was said to cause Nabati a measure of embarrassment. Born in Seville, Spain in 1166, Nabati traveled to North Africa, the Levant and Iraq while pursuing his education, eventually spending a period in Alexandria in 1216. He later returned to Seville and opened a pharmacy.
Nabati was also a theologian. He died in 1240.