A piece of an Ebony tree. Only the black inner part is used.
Baqqam better known as Brazil wood.
The bark of the Ceylon Cinnamon tree.
Zanjabil or Ginger roots.
Sandarus also called copal.
Pistachio; Terebinth tree
Tamarind tree
Tabasheer
Heart leaved madder or Indian Madder (dye stuff)
Cardamone
Clove
Cowries
Taken from : Hamdard foundation : Al Biruni's book on pharmacy and materia medica
In the introduction:(23)
I measure this against my own self, for I was brought up in a language which, were science ever to be immortalized in it, it would be as astounding as a mule in a water-spout or a giraffe among thoroughbreds. Then I went over to Arabic and Persian, and am a stranger in each language and struggle in each one.
p13Abnus (Ebony) There are two varieties of this plant. One is black, tinted with green, and glistens like a coral. It possesses straight clean strands of wood, but there may be present crooked strands. This variety is brought from the coast of Zanj and the islands of that country. Its tree resembles jujube (1) and its seed that of henna (2). In Zanj is also found a beautiful variety possessing the whiteness of sandal wood and the redness of shellac (3). Its seeds are like those of black pepper. The hasps of knives and arrow bows are also made of ebony. It is also called shauhat and the Arabs make their strings from it......
p14
Abu Hanifah Dinawari (4) writes in the Kitab-al-nabat that balsam from which platters are made is not a longish tree but its wood is hard and patterned with yellow and blackish tints. At times the yellowish tint is substituted by reddish. It grows in the valleys of Rome and around the Gulf. This is an excellent variety. The other variety of ebony is that which has no color except the black. This is brought from Waqwaq in the islands of Qamir (5). The people of Waqwaq are blackish; they prefer the golden complexioned Turkish slaves.
p15
Utrujj and Utrunj(Citron, Adam's apple) ....
The Egyptian variety of this herb produces a striped fruit like water melon. Many have exaggerated about its bigness, notably Jahiz. It is said that if it is placed between two people, they can not see each other. The bigness of the variety produced in Zanjibar is especially exaggerated beyond all permissible bounds. It is said that if the fruit is cut in the middle, two people can pass over it, as they would pass over a boat.....
p42
The people of Sawahil (7) say that there are two kinds of baqqam; one variety is brought from Sanf. It is known as the black-backed and possesses a red-dish tinge. The other brought from Lamri (8) is known as the white-backed and its redness is more apparent....
p141
Ibrahim Sandani (9) once traveled in the desert of China with a nomadic tribe. He has narrated that when the sun was about to set, the people accompanying him dismounted from their horses and prostrated themselves. He also prostrated himself. The orison (10) continued till the sun disappeared completely from the view. On Ibrahim's enquiry why this was done, the people explained that they considered the sun to be a god in the form of a very big bird whose habitat is a barren and uninhabited desert, between Zanj and China, feeding on huge elephants which can not be tamed and which they called Khutu....
p156
Dar Sini (Ceylon Cinnomon)
The Zinzibarian variety is malodorous; it is admixed with a fragrant herb. Sometimes a thing resembling Ceylon cinnamon is found; it is a vegetable but less fragrant.....
p169
Zanjabil; The moist plant is known as adrak and the dry plant as sundh in Hindi. The Persian synonyms are shinkrir, zangbir, and shanklil. In Syriac (11) it is zangabil and in Takhari (12) Shank-ranir.
p169
Dioscorides (19) writes; It is a galingalelike root, white, and pungent like black pepper, and fragrant. Take the root that has not undergone desiccation. Galen (20) says that it is brought from Barberry and this herb, as well as long pepper, are infested easily by worms because of moistness. Among the perfumeries it is said to comprise the Hindi and Zangi varieties. It is also known as Chini.
Abu Hanifah says: it is endemic to the villages of Oman. The bundles found underground are the rhizomes and not the plants. It is a plant like elecampane. The Chinese or the Zangi is appreciated more then the other varieties.
p194
Sandarus (gum copal).....
The tree grows in the region of the Zanj. It is scrapped and tied till the exudate commences to flow and ultimately congeals. Insects and other creatures are found in the exudate for this reason. There are two varieties of sandarus. One is of every-day use. The other variety which is far purer is rare. The distinction between the two is that the former, when heated, contracts and cracks, while the later, like gum, softens and, like the latter become viscid.....
p196
Siyah Dawaran
It is a synonym for the terebinth tree. Some claim it to be oak. In Syriac (11) it is maqar and this is, in fact, sabir (aloe)...
It is associated with Socotra which is near Zanzibar and Arabia.
p204
Subar. This is tamar-i-Hindi (tamarind). This name was given to it because its sourness demands patience. Hamzah says; In Persian it is jinjah, and grows plenty in Zing. In Sind (21) it is imbli. Its tree is large like that of mulberry and its grain, like that of broad bean, very slender. When it ripens and its rind becomes paler, tamar-i-Hindi remains. In the Zinji language it is called makojuwa....
p213
Tabashir (english Tabasheer this is young shoots, seeds and siliceous concretion of a bamboo kind plant)
It is known in Hindi as bain-sharochan and tushir. It is said to be Zangi (from Zanzibar) A commodity that looks like wheat flour is brought from India and is called lakur. It is claimed that this is tabashir-i-Hindi. In Syriac (11) it is known as qamhadarza, tabaqshir, and tawakhshir...
p261
Fuwah al-sabbaghin; (heart-leaved madder, it is the roots that are used)
It is munt in Hindi ruin in Persian and roghnaz in Jurjani (13). There are two varieties of the plant: one is copiously knotted, the other is sparsely so. The former is known as kardan, followed by the Zinjani which is called yazduni. It is slenderer and finer than the Qabadhi (14) variety. The best variety is the bardai from Armenia which is supplied to Jurjan, Sistan (15), Makran (16), India and Zanj. These are very thick red subers. The Qabadhi variety is the next, and is preferred by the Indians. One variety of it is indigenous to Balkh and is called hafsawi. It is inferior to the Qabadhi (14) variety but resembles the barda'i. It is therefore roasted in a hot empty oven, so that its color becomes firmer. It is then mixed with the bardha'i variety.
p263
Qaqullah; (greater cardamon)
Yahya and Khushki write, in the purity of the fragrance it is like cubeb (22) and in odor somewhat like camphor. Brought from sufalah, the seeds are like those of a big gram which are sheathed and, which when cloven, reveal white and small grains....
p265
Qaranful (clove)
Yahya and Khushki write; The most excellent kind is desiccated, pungently odorous, and sweet. It is the fruit of a tree that is brought from Sufalah. The male is like the stone of fartha. of the two kinds, it is the more potent....
p312
In the Ashkal al-Aqalim (17) it has been said : There is a two-day long journey from the Syrian coast towards Cyprus in the direction of Zinzibar. In the other direction the journey is long. From this place may'ah (a resin from a tree) and mastic are brought to Cyprus........
p334
Wada' (cowrie).......
The people of Zanjibar collect shells during the times of the ripening of walnut. They are buried in a pit till all the fleshy portion putrefies and disappears, after which they are sent to India. (18)
(1) Jujube: The small round fruits are growing on large flowering shrubs or trees (Ziziphus jujuba originally South Asia).
(2) Henna: is a dye prepared from the plant Lawsonia inermis, also known as the henna tree, the mignonette tree, and the Egyptian privet,
(3) Shellac: is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand.
(4) Abu Hanifah Dinawari ; Kitab-al-nabat: see my webpage on Abu Hanifa al Dinawari; (d895)
(5) Waqwaq in the islands of Qamir: Note that Biruni writes the same in his Book on India: The island of Alwakwak belongs to the Kumair islands.
(6) roman mastic: Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus). It releases a refreshing flavor similar to pine and cedar.
(7) Sawahil: coast; it is unclear if here the Swahili of East Africa are meant. Other places were also called Sawahil e.g. the coast of Syria and Lebanon.
(8) Lamri: Arab geographers referred to the island of Sumatra as Lamri (Lamuri, Lambri or Ramni) in the tenth through thirteenth centuries.
(9) Ibrahim Sandani: A tenth century natural scientist and traveller .
(10) Orison: prayer
(11) Syriac: was the local dialect of Aramaic in Edessa.
(12) Takhari: language in Afghanistan.
(13) Jurjani: Jurjan, a town in today’s Iran.
(14) Qabadhi: literally to seize for oneself.
(15) Sistan: the border region of eastern Iran.
(16) Makran: or Mecran and Mokran, is the coastal region of Baluchistan (Pakistan).
(17) Ashkal al-Aqalim: Al – Balkhi; Little is known about this Persian writer except that he wrote about 934 AD a geography book called: Ashkal al - Aqalim.
(18)Note this Biruni repeats in his: The Book most Comprehensive in Knowledge on Precious Stones.
(19) Dioscorides:(40–90 AD) was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of de Materia Medica.
(20) Galen: Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus (129 – c. 216 CE), was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire.
(21) Sindh : now in Pakistan.
(22) rare Indonesian pepper.
(23) I found many different translations from this: In Arab: البعير على الميزاب والزرافة في العِراب
-as a camel in the ditch of Mecca or a giraffe among thoroughbred horses.
-as to see a camel on a roof gutter (mizab) or a giraffe among though horses
-as strange as a camel walking on the eaves, or a giraffe in the herd of prize horses
-a camel on the roof water drain or a giraffe among pure Arab horses
-as to see a camel on a roof gutter or a giraffe ridden in the manner of a horse
-as bizarre as a camel on a roof or a giraffe pulling a plough.
- like harnessing a giraffe
- as preposterous as a camel on a roof gutter or a giraffe in a herd of pure-bred horses.
- like a camel on the gutter or like a giraffe in a ditch
- as a camel in the ram- pipes of the Ka'ba or a giraffe among thoroughbred horses
- as a camel standing beneath a rain - spout to shelter from the rain, or a giraffe amid fine Arab bloodstock
- as much chance of becoming perpetuated as a camel has of facing Ka'ba or a giraffe of finding himself among purebreds.
- as (at finding) a camel in a roof - gutter or a giraffe in a drove of noble steeds
- as strange as ' a camel in a drain or a giraffe in a water channel