Ibn al-Nafis
- Died
- 687 AH
- Born in
- Damascus
Ibn al-Nafis (c. 607–687 AH / 1210–1288 CE) was a Syrian-Egyptian physician and Shafi'i jurist, celebrated for his description of the pulmonary transit of blood in his Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun (Commentary on the Anatomy of the Canon) and his extensive medical compendium al-Shamil fi al-Sina'a al-Tibbiyya (The Comprehensive Book on the Art of Medicine) .
Early Life and Education
'Ala' al-Din Abu al-'Ala' 'Ali ibn Abi al-Hazm al-Qarshi was born in Damascus around 607 AH (1210 CE) . His ancestral nisba al-Qarshi is traced to the town of Qarsh in Transoxiana . In Damascus, he studied medicine at al-Bimaristan al-Nuri under the physician Muhadhdhab al-Din al-Dakhwar (d. 628 AH) . Alongside medicine, he applied himself to Islamic jurisprudence according to the Shafi'i school, legal theory, Arabic grammar, and logic .
Career in Egypt
Ibn al-Nafis later relocated to Cairo, where he served as chief of physicians in Egypt and practiced at al-Bimaristan al-Nasiri . He also taught Shafi'i jurisprudence at al-Madrasa al-Masruriyya in Cairo . His medical circle included distinguished practitioners and students, among them the surgeon Ibn al-Quff and al-Sadid al-Dimyati . Contemporary scholars and ruling amirs regularly frequented his residence in Cairo for scientific and intellectual assemblies . During one late-night philosophical debate recorded by al-Sadid al-Dimyati, the scholar Jamal al-Din Ibn Wasil commended Ibn al-Nafis's calm mastery across disciplines, remarking that while other scholars held isolated points and rules, Ibn al-Nafis commanded whole storehouses of knowledge .
Scholarly Contributions and Standing
Biographers described Ibn al-Nafis as an unmatched medical authority who composed directly from memory and observation without consulting reference books during drafting . In Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun, he challenged the anatomical views of Galen and Ibn Sina, correctly describing the pulmonary circulation by establishing that the interventricular septum of the heart is solid and non-porous, requiring blood from the right ventricle to pass through the lungs before reaching the left ventricle . His grand encyclopedic project, al-Shamil fi al-Sina'a al-Tibbiyya, was projected to encompass three hundred volumes, of which he finalized eighty . His concise manual Mujaz al-Qanun (The Epitome of the Canon) served as a widely circulated medical textbook that attracted numerous later commentaries . Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi praised him as an unparalleled authority in the medical sciences regarding both rapid recall and deductive reasoning .
Death
Ibn al-Nafis died in Cairo on 21 Dhu al-Qa'da 687 AH (18 December 1288 CE) at approximately eighty years of age . During his final illness, consulting physicians advised him to consume wine as a remedy, but he refused, stating that he would not meet God with wine in his body . He remained unmarried throughout his life, and he bequeathed his estate, financial assets, and library to the newly constructed al-Bimaristan al-Mansuri in Cairo .
Answer updated
List of Works
Sharh Tashrih al-Qanun (Commentary on the Anatomy of the Canon) is an anatomical treatise written as a specialized commentary on the anatomical sections of Ibn Sina's medical encyclopedia, al-Qanun fi al-Tibb. It gathers scattered anatomical discussions into a single unified work, using a systematic phrase-by-phrase commentary format to examine the subject.
al-Shamil fi al-Sinaa al-Tibbiyya (The Comprehensive Book on the Art of Medicine) is an Arabic medical encyclopedia designed as an exhaustive compendium of theoretical and practical medical knowledge, covering theoretical foundations, pathology, etiology, diagnosis, surgical operations, and pharmacology.