Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi

Who is Muhammed ibn Umail al-Tamimi?

Ibn Umayl, Senior Zadith, Muhammed ibn Umail at-Tamîmî was an alchemist of the tenth century. He can be dated to 900–960 AD on the basis of the names of acquaintances he mentioned. About his life, since he lived in seclusion, very little is known. Ibn Umayl may have been born in Spain of Arabic parents for a Vatican catalogue lists one manuscript with the nisba Andalusian but his writings suggest he mostly lived and worked in Egypt. He also visited North Africa and Iraq.

In later European literature ibn Umayl became known by a number of names, including Senior from the title Sheikh becoming 'senior' by translation into Latin, Senior Zadith from the honorific al-sadik becoming Zadith phonetically and Zadith filius Hamuel, Zadith ben Hamuel or Zadith Hamuelis from an erroneous translation of ibn Umail.