‘Ala’-al-Din Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi, known as Ibn al-Nafis (d.1288-89), Sharh tashrih Qanun Ibn Sina (A commentary on the anatomy in Al-Qanun of Ibn Sina), probably Iraq, Ilkhanid, dated 20 Sha'ban 734 AH/3 May 1334 AD

Acquired by the present owner circa 1990s.

This manuscript is a rare fourteenth century copy of an anatomical text that is central to the history of medieval Islamic medicine: Ibn al-Nafis’ Sharh Tashrih Qanun Ibn Sina. It is notable for its three early anatomical illustrations.

Ibn al-Nafis was born in a village in or near Damascus. He studied medicine at Nuri Hospital in Damascus under Muhadhdhib al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahim Ibn ‘Ali known as al-Dakhwar. Besides medicine, Ibn al-Nafis studied grammar, logic, and Islamic religious sciences. At an unknown date he moved to Cairo, where he became Chief Physician of Egypt and was personal physician to Sultan Baybars I. Whilst in Cairo, he likely worked and taught at Nasiri hospital where he trained a number of pupils; the best known of them being Ibn al-Kuff, an author of a work on surgery. He was very successful, and built a luxurious home in Cairo. He died in Cairo in 1288 and left his entire estate, including his fortune and books, to the Mansuri hospital.

Ibn al-Nafis’ contributions in the field of medicine cannot be understated. Though he was a theorist rather than a practical physician, and mainly acted as commentator, his work was not just a summary or transmission of that of his predecessors. He was a scholar of independent mind, and he frequently challenged and corrected prior concepts, including those of Galen and Ibn Sina, and advanced his own interpretations.

His Sharh Tashrih Qanun Ibn Sina is a commentary on the Anatomy in Ibn Sina’s Qanun, completed when the author was only twenty-nine years old. It is widely considered his most important work since it includes his early pioneering theory on pulmonary circulation (see Pormann and Savage-Smith 2007, pp.46-48). The book is in two parts, both present in this copy: the first deals with internal organs, bones, muscles, nerves, arteries, and veins; the second is formed of around twenty chapters discussing various body parts and organs, the final chapter discussing childbirth. For a detailed summary of the contents of this text see Alghamdi et al. 2017, pp.15-17).

The anatomical drawings are important survivals in the present copy, they comprise: the jaw and cranial structure (f.16a); the relationship of the kidneys to the male reproductive organs (f.93b); and the anatomy of the brain and optic nerves (f.103a). The present fourteenth century manuscript is furthermore among the earliest recorded manuscripts on the text, the final page bearing the date 1334 AD, only 46 years after the author’s death. For further manuscript copies of Ibn al-Nafis’ Sharh Tashrih Qanun Ibn Sina, see Brockelmann, GAL, I, p.649, SI, pp.900-1.