The Moral Vision
Gerard of Cremona
~ 96 ~
Hunain and Al-Kindi, Abul Qasim Zuhravi’s book
on surgery and many other books on the physical
sciences, including the pamphlet on fossils which is
attributed to Aristotle. Besides these, he rendered
into Latin Avicenna’s massive volume on law and
many other books by Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ishaaq
and Sabit, etc.
Many other purveyors of knowledge were later to
follow in Gerard’s footsteps. In the words of Dr.
Maz Mirhaf, ‘He was the founder of Arabism in the
western world.”
In 1187, in Toledo, Gerard fell ill, and felt himself
that his end was near. He wondered to himself
what would happen when he was gone. “These
books in Arabic are so precious,” he thought, “and
who is going to translate them into western
languages?” His reflections moved him profoundly
and he was fired with new zeal and energy. In spite
of his rapidly failing health, he then succeeded in
translating the remainder of his valuable collection
of books. Legend has it that in the space of one
month before his death, he had completed the
translations of no less than 80 books.
