This scholar claimed “reproach in Arabic is sweeter to me than praise in Persian” in part of a treatise on pharmacology. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this scholar, who compared the world’s religions in his Chronology of the Ancient Nations. This scholar also studied the culture of India in a work translated by Edward Sachau (“ZAH-kow”).
ANSWER: Abu Rayhan al-Biruni [or al-Bayruni; or al-Beruni]
[10m] Al-Biruni translated the work of this Indian scholar, who was influenced by the Samkhya school, into Arabic. One work by this scholar discusses eight limbs of its title concept, including dhyana (“DYAH-nuh”), asana, and samadhi.
ANSWER: Patañjali [or Gonardiya; or Gonikaputra]
[10e] Al-Biruni also engaged in extensive correspondence with this philosopher of the Islamic Golden Age. This scholar wrote the Canon of Medicine.
ANSWER: Avicenna [or Ibn Sīnā; or Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn bin ʿAbdallāh bin al-Ḥasan bin ʿAlī bin Sīnā al-Balkhī al-Bukhārī]
<Benjamin McAvoy-Bickford, Other History>