A Manuscript Page from The Book of Musta‘īnī

Yūsuf (or perhaps Yūnus) ibn Isḥāq al-Isrā’īlī Ibn Biklārish (or Baklārish) was a Jewish physician in Almería, Spain, active around 1100. His only surviving work is The Book of Musta‘īnī (Kitāb Musta‘īnī), which he wrote on behalf of the ruler of Saragossa, Abū Ja‘far Aḥmad II ibn Yūsuf, known as al-Musta‘īn II (r. 1085–1109). Ibn Biklārish served as court physician, but little else is known about him. No specifically Jewish material appears in the Kitāb Musta‘īnī, which was fairly popular in Spain and North Africa. Later authors also mention a book on dialectics written by Ibn Biklārish. The meaning of the patronym Biklārish is unclear.