Skip to main content
Illustration of Ibn Firnas as a 9th-century Andalusi scholar in a plain robe and turban, studying an instrument beside a window above the Guadalquivir
Scholar Physician Poet Umayyad Emirate711–929

Ibn Firnas

Lived c. 810–887 (about 77 years)

Also known as
Abbas ibn Firnas, Abbas Ibn Firnas, Abbas ibn Firnas of Córdoba

Ibn Firnas was an Andalusi polymath: inventor, astronomer, physician, chemist, engineer, musician and poet. He was probably born around 810 in Ronda, lived in Córdoba and died in 887. Among his inventions was a water clock, the al-Maqata.

His trace in Córdoba is a modern one. The bridge over the Guadalquivir that carries his name, opened in the 21st century, hangs an abstract metal sculpture representing him from its central counter-arch. It is a nod to the flight he is famous for, not a likeness. A statue of him, installed in 1973, stands at Baghdad International Airport.

For an emir of his era, see Abd al-Rahman II. For another scientist of the same city, see Maslama al-Majriti, Córdoba's astronomer. What is known and what is legend about his flight is laid out in Abbas Ibn Firnas: Córdoba's Polymath Who Dreamed of Flight: read the full story there.

The full story

In their time

  1. Umayyad Emirate

    711–929

    Muslim forces took Córdoba in 711, and governors ruled al-Andalus from it until Abd al-Rahman I declared an independent emirate in 756. He began the Mezquita in the 780s.

    1. Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba

      785 Monument

      856 columns, 1,300 years of Islamic and Christian history. UNESCO monument in Córdoba, Andalusia. Red-and-white arches, Byzantine mosaics, a Renaissance nave.

    2. Abd al-Rahman I

      731–788 Historical figure

      Abd al-Rahman I (731-788) founded the Emirate of Córdoba in 756 and began the Great Mosque. Where his trace remains in Córdoba today, and where to read more.

    3. Al-Hakam I

      c. 771–822 Historical figure

      Al-Hakam I (c. 771-822), Umayyad emir of Córdoba from 796, crushed the 818 suburb revolt. See where his trace lies near the Roman Bridge and read his story.

    4. Ziryab

      c. 790–857 Historical figure

      Ziryab (c. 790-857), the Baghdad-trained court musician who settled in Córdoba in 822. Who he was, and the places and reading where his trace survives today.

    5. Abd al-Rahman II

      792–852 Historical figure

      Abd al-Rahman II (792-852), emir of Córdoba from 822, expanded the Mezquita and patronised the arts. Where his traces still survive in the city today.

    Undated

    1. Molinos del Río Guadalquivir

      Monument

      The Albolafia wheel turns again on the Guadalquivir, photographed from the Roman bridge against the Mezquita skyline. What's left of Córdoba's Arab mills.

    Go deeper

Read more

Photorealistic interior of the Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba showing red-and-white striped Umayyad arches receding into shadow, warm golden light, evoking the ziryab cordoba court culture of Abd al-Rahman II in the 9th century
Ziryab: The Musician Who Invented Your Dinner in Córdoba
Bronze statue of Averroes seated on a stone bench beside the medieval walls of Córdoba's Judería, golden-hour light catching the Almodóvar Gate behind him, photorealistic
Averroes: Córdoba's Philosopher Who Saved Aristotle
The remnants of Madīnat al-Zahrā's grand halls where Al-Hakam II's legendary 400,000-manuscript library once stood, destroyed during the Fitna civil war. Al-Hakam II library Córdoba.
Al-Hakam II's Library: 400,000 Books That Vanished
Milky Way arcing over dehesa farmland at the Los Pedroches Starlight Reserve at night, stargazing near Córdoba under a star-dense Sierra Morena sky
Stargazing Near Córdoba: From Ibn Firnas to Los Pedroches