Editing Al-Mu'tasim (section)

=== Science and learning ===
As a military man, al-Mu'tasim's outlook was utilitarian, and his intellectual pursuits could not be compared with those of al-Ma'mun or his successor al-Wathiq, but he continued his brother's policy of promoting writers and scholars.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=215, 244}} Baghdad remained a [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|major centre of learning]] throughout his reign. Among the notable scholars active during his reign were the astronomers [[Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi]]{{sfn|Sarton|1927|p=565}}{{sfn|Freely|2015|p=31}} and [[Ahmad al-Farghani]],{{sfn|Freely|2015|p=31}} the polymath [[al-Jahiz]],{{sfn|Freely|2015|p=52}} and the distinguished Arab mathematician and philosopher [[al-Kindi]], who dedicated his work ''On First Philosophy'' to his patron al-Mu'tasim.{{sfn|Freely|2015|pp=48–51}}{{sfn|Sarton|1927|p=559}} The Nestorian physician [[Salmawayh ibn Bunan]], a patron of the fellow Nestorian physician and [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement|translator]] [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]], became court physician to al-Mu'tasim,{{sfn|Sarton|1927|pp=573–574}} while another prominent Nestorian physician, Salmawayh's rival [[Ibn Masawayh]], received apes for [[dissection]] from the caliph.{{sfn|Sarton|1927|p=574}} The physician [[Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari|Ali al-Tabari]] was listed as being present in al-Mu'tasim's court, along with [[Masawaiyh|Ibn Masawayh]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamarneh |first=Sami |date=July 1972 |title=Pharmacy in medieval islam and the history of drug addiction |journal=Medical History |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=226–237 |doi=10.1017/s0025727300017725 |pmc=1034978 |pmid=4595520}}</ref>