ABSTRACT
In order of merit, the most important biobibliographies of Ibn alHaytham are: the one written by al-Qif†î and the one written by Ibn Abî UÒaybi‘a. The article devoted to Ibn al-Haytham included in Ibn Abî UÒaybi‘a’s ‘Uyºn al-anbæ’ is the most thorough and is the one most often referred to by modern biobibliographers. But its importance has as much to do with the fact that Ibn Abî UÒaybi‘a collects – albeit in a disorderly fashion – information from several different sources. He uses statements from his contemporaries as well as information from the earlier biography by al-Qif†î. He also uses a text containing the autobiography of MuÌammad ibn al-Îasan, and also a catalogue of the writings of al-Îasan ibn al-Îasan up to the end of 429/October 1038. This text and this catalogue were taken by Ibn Abî UÒaybi‘a from a previous text compiled before 556/1161 and this is also the source of the Lahore manuscript which was copied at the same time.31 Essentially, Ibn Abî UÒaybi‘a considered that both MuÌammad and al-Îasan were one and the same person, and this opinion has survived until the present day. But we should ask ourselves whether this is a considered opinion or whether it is the result of simple confusion: this question is all the more serious since it challenges the very authenticity of certain works by al-Îasan ibn al-Haytham.
