Abu al‐Qasim Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Umar al‐Ghafiqī ibn as-Saffar al‐Andalusi (born inCordoba, died in the year 1035 atDenia), also known asIbn as-Saffar (Arabic:ابن الصَّفَّار, literally: son of the brass worker), was a Spanish-Arab^[1]astronomer inAl-Andalus. He worked at the school founded by his colleagueAl-Majriti inCórdoba. His best-known work was a treatise on theastrolabe, a text that was in active use until the 15th century and influenced the work ofKepler. He also wrote a commentary on theZij as-Sindhind, and measured the coordinates ofMecca.^[2]

Ibn as-Saffar later influenced the works ofAbu as-Salt.

Paul Kunitzsch argued that a Latin treatise on the astrolabe long attributed toMashallah, and used byChaucer to writeA Treatise on the Astrolabe, is in fact written by Ibn as-Saffar.^[3][4]

Theexoplanet Saffar, also known asUpsilon Andromedae b, is named in his honor.

Saffar Island inAntarctica is named after Ibn as-Saffar.

• Rius, Mònica (2007)."Ibn al-Ṣaffār: Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar al-Ghāfiqī ibn al-Ṣaffār al-Andalusī". In Thomas Hockey; et al. (eds.).The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. pp. 566–7.ISBN 978-0-387-31022-0. (PDF version)

• 1035 deaths
• 11th-century Arab people
• 11th-century people from al-Andalus
• Astronomers from al-Andalus
• Scientists who worked on qibla determination
• 11th-century astronomers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• Year of birth unknown