{{Short description|Lebanese physician and philosopher (820–912)}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=September 2012}}{{Infobox writer
| name = Qusṭā ibn Lūqā al‐Baʿlabakkī  <br> قُسطا ابن لُوقا البعلبکی
| image = 
| caption = Qusta Ibn Luqa
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = 820
| birth_place = [[Baalbek]], [[Abbasid Caliphate]], now [[Baalbek District]], [[Beqaa Governorate]], Lebanon
| death_date = 912  (aged 92)
| death_place = [[Armenia]]
| period = [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid period]]
| occupation = Physician, scientist, translator
| notable_works = ''Risalah fī Auja Al Niqris'',<br>''Rislah fī al Nabidh'',<br>''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl-kura al‐nujūmiyya'',<br>''Hayʾat al‐aflāk'',<br>''Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā ʿilm al‐nujūm'',<br>''Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā al‐hayʾa wa‐ḥarakāt al‐aflāk wa‐ʾl‐kawākib'',<br>''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl‐asṭurlāb al‐kurī'',<br>''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl‐kura dhāt al‐kursī'',
| years_active = 840{{ndash}}912
}}
'''Qusta ibn Luqa''' ({{lang|ar|قسطا ابن لوقا}}, "Costas son of Luke"), also known as '''Costa ben Luca''' or '''Constabulus'''<ref>Nancy G. Siraisi, ''Medicine and the Italian Universities, 1250-1600'' (Brill Academic Publishers, 2001), p 134.</ref> (820{{ndash}}912) was a [[Melkite]] Christian physician, [[philosopher]], [[astronomer]], [[mathematician]] and translator.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Worrell |first1=W. H. |title=Qusta Ibn Luqa on the Use of the Celestial Globe |journal=Isis |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=285–293 |date=1944|jstor=330840 |doi=10.1086/358720 |s2cid=143503145 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=N. Swanson |first=Mark |title=Qusṭā ibn Lūqā |date=2010-03-24 |work=Christian-Muslim Relations 600 - 1500 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/christian-muslim-relations-i/qusta-ibn-luqa-COM_25017 |access-date=2024-02-07 |publisher=Brill |language=en}}</ref> He was born in [[Baalbek]]. Travelling to parts of the [[Byzantine Empire]], he brought back [[Greek language|Greek]] texts and translated them into [[Arabic language|Arabic]].

==Personal life==
Qusta ibn Luqa al-Ba'albakki originated from Baalbek (or [[Heliopolis of Phoenicia|Heliopolis]]), now in Lebanon. A [[Melkite]] Christian, he was born in 820 and flourished in Baghdad. He was a [[philosopher]], physician, [[mathematician]] and [[astronomer]]. He died in [[Armenia]], likely circa 912.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Qusta_ibn_Luqa_al-Balabakki_BEA.htm | title=Qusta ibn Luqa al-Balabakki }}</ref>

==Translations==
Qusta ibn Luqa produced, personally revised, or supervised the translations of a number of works. These include works by [[Diophantus]], [[Theodosius of Bithynia]]'s ''[[Theodosius%27 Spherics|Spherics]]'', ''On Days and Nights'', and ''On the places of habitation'', [[Autolycus of Pitane|Autolycus]]'s ''On the moving sphere'' and ''On Risings and Settings'', [[Hypsicles]]'s ''On Ascensions'', works by [[Aristarchus of Samos|Aristarchus]], [[Theophrastus]]’s ''Meteora'', [[Galen]]’s catalogue of his books, [[Hero of Alexandria]]'s ''Mechanics'', and works by [[John Philoponus]].

He wrote commentaries on [[Euclid]] and a [[treatise]] on the [[spherical astrolabe|armillary sphere]]. He was a prominent figure in the [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement]] that reached its peak in the 9th century. At the request of wealthy and influential commissioners, Qusta translated works on astronomy, mathematics, mechanics and natural science from Greek into Arabic.

==Original works==
More than 60 treatises are attributed to Qusta. He wrote mainly on medical subjects, but also on mathematics and astronomy. Only a small number of his works have been published. The extant editions of medical works show that he was thoroughly acquainted with Hippocratic-Galenic humoral medicine—the theoretical system that constituted the basis of formal medicine in Islam.

Qusta's works, many listed in the ''Fihrist'' of [[Ibn al-Nadim]], dealt with contemporary science, medicine, astronomy and philosophy. A [[Latin]] translation of his work ''De Differentia Spiritus et Animae'' was one of the few works not attributed to [[Aristotle]] that was included in a list of ‘books to be read by the Masters of the Faculty of Arts, at Paris in 1254, as part of their study of Natural Philosophy.<ref>J. A Burns, article on ‘The Faculty of Arts’ in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, [NY: Robert Appleton, 1907], 758.</ref> The work was translated by [[John of Seville]] (fl. 1140). He wrote a treatise on [[Nabidh]]. His ''Medical Regime for the Pilgrims to Mecca'': ''The Risālā Fī Tadbīr Safar Al-ḥa'' is available in translation.<ref name="LūqāBos1992">{{cite book|last1=Lūqā|first1=Qusṭā ibn|last2=Bos|first2=Gerrit|title=Qusṭā Ibn Lūqā's Medical Regime for the Pilgrims to Mecca: The Risālā Fī Tadbīr Safar Al-ḥajj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfkevUKg2KEC|access-date=29 September 2012|year=1992|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004095410}}</ref>

== Discoveries ==
Research in 2021 traces the discovery of [[pulmonary circulation]] to Qusta's book ''A Treatise on the Difference Between Spirit and Soul'' (Arabic: رسالة في الفرق بين الروح والنفس).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mahlooji |first1=Kamran |last2=Abdoli |first2=Mahsima |last3=Tekiner |first3=Halil |last4=Zargaran |first4=Arman |date=2021-03-23 |title=A new evidence on pulmonary circulation discovery: A text of Ibn Luqa (860-912 AD) |journal=European Heart Journal |volume=42 |issue=26 |pages=2522–2523 |doi=10.1093/eurheartj/ehab039 |issn=1522-9645 |pmid=33755117 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Testimonials==

Of him [[Ibn al-Nadim]] says: "He is an excellent translator; he knew well [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], and [[Arabic]]; he translated texts and corrected many translations. Many are his medical writings."<ref>see Ibn al-Nadim, Fihrist, ed. Fugel, p. 234.</ref> Qusta was with [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]] the author who best served [[Culture of Greece|Greek culture]] in the Arab civilization.

==Involvement with peers==

He was also involved, with his fellow Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq, in an epistolary exchange with the Muslim astronomer, [[Yahya ibn Abi Mansur|Abu Isa Yahya ibn al-Munajjim]], who had invited them to embrace Islam. Both refused, and provided their reasons for rejecting al-Munajjim's Islamic faith.<ref>Sydney H. Griffith, ''The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam, Jews'', Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World (Princeton University Press, 2008), p. 86; Samir Khalil Samir and Paul Nwyia, ''Une correspondance islamo-chrétienne entre ibn al-Munaggim, Hunaym ibn Ishaq et Qusta ibn Luqa'', Patrologia Orientalis, 40:4, no. 185 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1981).</ref>

==Writings==
*''Risalah fī Auja Al Niqris'' رسالة في اوجاع النقرس by Qusta Ibn Luqa. A work on Gout. Edited with translation and commentary by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], [[Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences]], [[Aligarh]], 2007 ({{ISBN|978-81-901362-8-0}}).
*''Rislah fī al Nabidh'' (رسالة في النبيذ Arabic translation of Qusta ibn Luqa by Rufus. Edited with translation and commentary by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], [[Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences]], [[Aligarh]], 2007 ({{ISBN|978-81-901362-7-3}}).
* ''Rîsâlah-i Nabîdh of Qustâ bin Lûqâ'' by [[Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman]], A Persian translation of the previous work. Supplement to 'Studies in the History of Medicine and Science' (SHMS), [[Jamia Hamdard]], Vol. IX(1985), pp.&nbsp;185–201.
*''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl–kura al‐nujūmiyya'' (كتاب في العمل بالكرة النجومية On the use of the celestial globe; with some variations as to title), which contains 65 chapters and was widely disseminated through at least two Arabic recensions as well as Latin, Hebrew, Spanish, and Italian translations. The Latin translation is edited by R. Lorch - J. Martínez: ''Qusta ben Lucae De sphera uolubili'', in ''Suhayl'', vol. 5 [http://www.ub.edu/arab/suhayl/volums/volum5/paper%201.pdf]
*the extant astronomical work, ''Hayʾat al‐aflāk'' (هيئة الافلاك On the configuration of celestial bodies; Bodleian Library MS Arabic 879, Uri, p.&nbsp;190), which is one of the earliest compositions in theoretical (hayʾa) astronomy
*''Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā ʿilm al‐nujūm'' (كتاب المدخل الى علم النجوم Introduction to the science of astronomy – astrology)
*''Kitāb al‐Madkhal ilā al‐hayʾa wa‐ḥarakāt al‐aflāk wa‐ʾl‐kawākib'' (كتاب المدخل الى الهيئة و حركة الافلاك و الكواكب Introduction to the configuration and movements of celestial bodies and stars)
*''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl‐asṭurlāb al‐kurī'' (كتاب في العمل بالاسطرلاب الكري On the use of the spherical astrolabe; Leiden University Library MS Or. 51.2: Handlist, p.&nbsp;12)
*''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl‐kura dhāt al‐kursī'' (كتاب في العمل بالكرة دات الكرسي On the use of the mounted celestial sphere). It is identical to ''Kitāb fī al‐ʿamal bi‐ʾl-kura al‐nujūmiyya'' mentioned above.
*''The Introduction to Geometry''. Translation and Commentary by Jan P. Hogendijk in ''Suhayl'', vol. 8 [http://www.ub.edu/arab/suhayl/volums/volum8/paper%205.pdf]

==Influence==

He was named (as Kusta Ben Luka) by the poet [[W. B. Yeats]] as a source for the ideas in the poet's philosophical treatise, ''[[A Vision]]''.

==See also==
* [[Latin translations of the 12th century]]
* [[Toledo School of Translators]]
* [[10th century in Lebanon]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*  {{cite encyclopedia | editor = Thomas Hockey| last = Kheirandish | first = Elaheh | title=Qusṭā ibn Lūqā al-Baʿlabakkī | encyclopedia = The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers | publisher = Springer | year = 2007 | location = New York | pages = 948–9 | url=http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Qusta_ibn_Luqa_al-Balabakki_BEA.htm | isbn=978-0-387-31022-0|display-editors=etal}} ([http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Qusta_ibn_Luqa_al-Balabakki_BEA.pdf PDF version])
* [http://www.globalarmenianheritage-adic.fr/fr/6histoire/par_pays/arabes_4culture.htm Les Arabes et les Arméniens à l'époque médiévale]
* {{cite encyclopedia | last = Harvey | first = L. Ruth | title=Qusṭā Ibn Lūqā Al-BaʿLabakkī | url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830903557.html | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography|Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography]] | publisher = Encyclopedia.com | orig-year=1970-80 | year = 2008 }}

{{Islamic medicine}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qusta ibn Luqa}}
[[Category:820 births]]
[[Category:912 deaths]]
[[Category:Greek–Arabic translators]]
[[Category:Astronomers from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Lebanese medical doctors]]
[[Category:Lebanese astronomers]]
[[Category:Lebanese mathematicians]]
[[Category:10th-century medical doctors]]
[[Category:10th-century Lebanese people]]
[[Category:9th-century Lebanese people]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:9th-century medical doctors]]
[[Category:9th-century mathematicians]]
[[Category:9th-century astronomers]]
[[Category:10th-century astronomers]]